


Be the Change

by thewriteday



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Femslash, Multi, Post-Curse Storybrooke, Storybrooke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-25
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-12 22:46:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 54,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/816936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriteday/pseuds/thewriteday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma couldn't help but feel that at the core of her, Regina wasn't the evil queen everyone expected her to be. At the core of her, Emma knew there was good to be found. Post Queen of Hearts ep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Regina heard the patter of Henry's footsteps first. She hadn't even heard the front door open, then he was there, as if standing in a spotlight in her kitchen door, instantly drawing her attention. He drew her away from her current task – the kneading of dough for a perfect apple pie.

"Henry!" She checked the time on the stove and her smile faltered. "You're home early – is something wrong?"

He dropped his bag on the floor, causing Regina's eyes to momentarily flicker down in disapproval, before he wrapped his arms around her tightly, his face pressing into her floral apron.

"No, nothing's wrong, it was a half day and Emma came to pick me up early." Henry said, his words a little muffled.

He was still in his thankful afterglow, ecstatic that Regina had brought Emma and Snow back home – well, back to Storybrooke – and he'd been uncharacteristically affectionate towards her since.

He was splitting his time between staying with the Charming bunch and staying with her. It wasn't ideal, but Regina was just pleased he was spending any time with her at all. There had been a moment, when she'd been left behind in the townsfolk's wake of celebrating, when she'd thought she'd go back to spending all of her days alone.

"Emma picked you up?" Regina asked. Henry pulled away but kept his arms loosely around her.

"Yeah, that's okay isn't it? She was close by so she offered to save you the trip." He said it apprehensively, afraid Regina would snap at him about it the way she used to. But she just smiled.

"Yes that's fine. Did you have lunch?" She asked. He nodded vigorously.

He let her go completely and she felt a little lost. He went back to his bag and picked it up, shouldering it again.

"I'm gonna go finish my homework," Henry said. Regina's eyebrows shot up in surprise, not unnoticed by her son. "And then watch some TV," he added with a reassuring grin. She matched it.

"I'll call you when dinner's ready." She said.

He turned to leave, but before he was through the door he turned back.

"Is it okay if Emma stays?" He asked.

Regina's mouth went slack.

"She's  _here_?"

Henry poked his head out of the kitchen to check.

"Yeah, she's still trying to get her boots off," he said with a snort.

Regina's instinct was to say no, to deny the woman an invitation to dinner on the basis of some leftover bitterness at the invitation that hadn't been extended to her. But Henry caught her eyes again, wearing the meekest smile, as if he was already expecting her answer to be no. She could do it, couldn't she? She could be civil with the former Sherriff. (Or was she the current Sherriff now? Regina hadn't been paying much attention to the town's affairs.)

"Sure." She said with her warmest smile, just for him. He grinned and ran out of the room, the pounding of his feet up the staircase reverberating through the house.

Regina returned to her pie-making, mentally assessing her preparedness for three meals instead of two. Of course her roast was going to be plenty – she was always making enough for leftovers, even when she was cooking for just herself – but the salad, the salad might not be enough for everyone, she'd have to–

The door to the kitchen swung open again. Regina knew it was Emma this time, not Henry, so she didn't bother looking up from her work. Without missing a moment, she began peeling and slicing a pile of Granny Smith and Cortland apples.

"Those must be some boots." Regina said. To her surprise, Emma laughed.

"Yeah, they don't really cooperate with me sometimes."

Regina didn't say anymore. She wasn't about to give the blonde any excuse to stick around. She was hoping the woman would take the hint and run off upstairs to Henry. She didn't.

"I hope it's okay that I picked him up. I didn't mean to impose or anything," Emma said.

"I'd have to disagree. I think you  _do_ mean to impose. But in this case," Regina said, she glanced at Emma briefly, meaning to flash an icy smile. "I'll overlook it." The grin that jumped to Regina's lips was decidedly not cold.

"Thank you for your understanding, your majesty," Emma said with a haughty tone and an awkward curtsy. She was going for comedy, but Regina bristled at the old title, dropping her eyes back down to the counter and slicing the apples more viciously. Emma noticed the effect immediately.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even think–"

"No. You often don't."

Emma sighed and rounded the counter. Regina could feel the green eyes boring into her, trying to catch her attention, but she ignored them.

"Regina, can we talk? I know I'm not your favourite person in the world, but you  _did_  bring me back into this one. I thought we were at least on speaking terms." Emma said.

"We  _are_ speaking," Regina said curtly. In her periphery she could tell Emma was rolling her eyes.

"Traditionally, when two people are talking, it's customary to actually look at each other."

"I'm busy, Ms. Swan. Or can't you tell?"

"Regina, come on." Emma took a step towards her. She was getting far too close for Regina's comfort.

"If you want to have a nice, long, lady chat, I suggest you go find your mother. As for me, as I said, I'm  _busy._ "

Regina felt the shift in the air before Emma snapped into action. Emma grabbed Regina's wrists in her hands, causing her to drop both apple and the knife, before spinning the brunette around and pushing her up against the counter. Regina's wrists were held firmly against the cold stone. Their bodies were close – too close – and Regina felt her skin heat a little in spite of herself. Their eyes were locked now; the younger woman was enraged. Regina was pretty pissed too.

"What in the  _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" Regina said. She made a conscious effort to keep her voice down for Henry's sake. He'd heard the two of them fighting enough for a lifetime.

"I just want you to look at me when I'm trying to have a conversation with you! To treat me like I'm a human being!"

"And why should I?!" Regina spat back. "No one treats  _me_  like a person, no one ever has! Either I'm a possession or a villain or a monster, but I'm never human."

Emma stepped back, releasing the wrists in her hands.

"Regina… You don't really think–"

"I don't  _think_ , Ms. Swan. I  _know_. My own son thinks I'm no better than the villain in the pages of a book. Of course I was that too. But not  _just_  that."

Regina dropped her eyes, suddenly ashamed of her outburst. Or rather, ashamed that she'd shared the truth of what was hurting her with Snow's daughter. And what was worse, Emma would know every word was brutally, painfully true because of her special sixth sense.

"He doesn't think that anymore," Emma said. "He loves you. He knows you're not that person now. You've changed."

Regina let out a dark laugh that chilled Emma's spine. It was the evil queen's laugh.

"He doesn't really believe that. No one does."

"I do." Emma said.

Regina barely registered it at first. She took a couple seconds to confirm to herself that she'd heard the woman correctly and met her gaze again.

"And why would you believe such a... fairy tale," Regina's said with a little self-satisfied smirk. She waited patiently for Emma to backpedal.

Emma's eyes lit up and her words tumbled out deliriously.

"Because I was a runaway and now I'm some kind of saviour. And because you had the opportunity to leave me behind, but you brought me back. And because you love that little boy more than I've seen anyone love anyone, and  _that_ is how I know you aren't the evil queen. Not anymore. If you can't see that for yourself, then I'll make it my mission to  _make_  you see it." Emma said.

Regina's smile was gone. She didn't know what to make of any of that. She stood in silence, staring at the blonde. Emma's confidence started to buckle under the scrutiny.

"I had a lot of time to think, okay?" Emma said defensively, folding her arms over her chest.

Regina quirked an eyebrow. She'd forgotten how much fun it was to toy with Emma. She hadn't done it properly in such a long while.

"You want to make me your personal mission, Ms. Swan?" Regina said, putting a hand to her hip as she leaned against the counter.

"What? That's not what I said," Emma laughed uncomfortably.

"Perhaps. But that is what you implied." Regina swept her eyes down over Emma's body, making sure the blonde noticed her appraisal.

"And just what are  _you_ implying?" Emma might have meant to discourage the former mayor, but it ended up sounding like an invitation. Regina lifted her hip from the counter and sauntered over to Emma. Emma watched the woman approach like a tiger advancing on a helpless woodland creature. Then she realized _she_ was that helpless woodland creature. She gulped.

Suddenly they were sharing the same air.

"You said you were grateful when I brought you back," Regina said. Emma could the woman's breath on her skin.

"Yes," Emma said cautiously when Regina left pause for a reply.

"You never thanked me properly." Regina said. Emma remembered a few times before when they'd been this close, faces separated by mere inches. Once on the day Henry was trapped in the mine shaft – the day she'd first thought of kissing Regina rather than slapping her across the face – and once while Henry was in the hospital – when Emma had thought for a second she might murder Regina in her rage.

Both times there'd been a tiny spark, some inexplicable desire she felt kindling low in her stomach. The first time she'd had to restrain herself from acting on it. The second time, it had kept her from exacting revenge on the woman.

But this time, she wasn't sure how to proceed. She'd just spilled her guts, admitted she had more or less accepted Regina had changed, that she deserved a little more acceptance. Emma didn't want to be kicked around, though. That felt too much like the queen playing her old game. If she was going to move forward, Emma had to be sure she was doing it for the right reason. She needed to keep her head.

"You're right." She paused for effect. "How about I take you on a date?" Emma tipped her head to the side and smiled. Her request came so far out of left field that Regina took a step back.

"Excuse me?"

"You've been cooped up in this house for a while. You only go into town anymore to pick up groceries. I know you're afraid to go out there, but you can't stay in  _here_  all day and night. It's not healthy. So, to thank you for all you've done, I'd like to take you out." Emma said matter-of-factly, as if there were no more rational proposition in the world.

"On a date." Regina said.

"On a date." Emma replied.

"I have to admit, I was thinking of something a little more… imminent." Regina purred.

Emma hesitated, then reached out and pulled Regina's body closer to hers. It was oddly easy. She felt suddenly more comfortable with the woman, like some cloud had been lifted.

"How about a compromise? I get to take you on a date; you get to kiss me right now." Emma said. It still felt a little dangerous. Regina could deny her completely. But the way the brunette was relaxing in Emma's arms, Emma had a feeling she wouldn't be turned down.

Regina didn't bother with a verbal answer. She threw her arms around Emma's neck and crashed their lips together, throwing her body into the blonde's. The force threw Emma back into the edge of the counter.

"Ow! OW!" Emma said against Regina's lips. Regina's eyes snapped open.

"Are you okay?" Regina said breathlessly. One of her hands went to the small of Emma's back, soothing it.

"It's fine," Emma assured her. "You are a  _lot_ stronger than you look." Emma laughed. She kissed Regina and the brunette responded a little more gently this time. Emma slipped a hand under Regina's apron to grope at her chest. Regina laughed against Emma's lips.

"And here I thought I was the over-eager one." Regina said.

"I think it's safe to say we're pretty evenly matched."

"Oh you think so, do you?" Regina slipped a hand between them to snake into Emma's jeans. Her path was stunted when Emma's cell rang from her back pocket. Emma looked at Regina apologetically and the brunette extricated herself from their tangled limbs. She briefly washed her hands before returning to pie-making.

"Hey, what's up?" Emma greeted. She stood next to Regina as the woman worked. Her hands were hypnotizing.

"No, I was going to have dinner with Henry and Regina tonight actually." She paused and sighed at whatever response she'd received.

"What do you mean  _why_?" Emma said. She waited again. "Listen, we had this conversation. You can't be the same age as me and nag like this. I'm not fourteen."

Regina smirked. She imagined Snow on the other end of the call, utterly disapproving of their fraternization. But then, Snow didn't know what kind of interaction they were  _really_ indulging in.

"We can have dinner tomorrow night!" Emma insisted. She reached for an apple slice, ready to pop it into her mouth when Regina grabbed her wrist.

Emma whipped her head around to glare, but the expression fell away when Regina pulled Emma's fingers to her lips and took the apple slice into her own mouth. Her tongue flicked at the blonde's fingertips as she held her eyes with her own.

Emma stood staring until she snapped back into her conversation.

"Yes! I'm still here," she grinned and shook her head at Regina. "Just don't worry about it right now, okay? I'll be back later. We can talk then. Goodnight." She hung up the phone and restored it to her back pocket. She leaned over and rested her arms on the counter, watching Regina intently. She was adding lemon juice to her bowl of apple slices.

"You know, you could actually help me with the preparation. Instead of eying me like a Christmas ham." Regina said.

"I can't help it," Emma replied. "I'm seeing you in a whole new light. You know, since I know instead of hating me, you just wanted to jump my bones all this time."

Regina huffed in amusement.

"That's not even remotely true."

"Which part?"

"I did hate you. A little at least. And the desire to… be closer, that was a relatively new development."

"That sounds like at least remotely true to me." Emma said. "So what did it? What changed your mind?" Emma asked seriously.

Regina flicked her eyes over to the blonde.

"You protected me. I thought maybe you were just doing it for Henry. But you found out the things I'd done and you still protected me. It was surprising."

"I have my moments," Emma said. "So when's a good day for our date?" Emma was grinning just thinking about it.

"As you so delicately put it, all I do is stay in the house all day and night. So pick your poison, Ms. Swan. Apparently you're booked tomorrow night."

"Then night after that it is, then." Emma said.

"Very well. Now can you peel your eyes off my ass for a moment and take the roast from the fridge? It's time to put you to work."


	2. Chapter 2

Winter was by far Emma's favourite season. She loved the brisk air, the lightness of the snow, the crunch of it underfoot. She decided that the morning after asking Regina on a date was the perfect time for her first, long-overdue, winter walk of the year.

The night before had left her glowing. Dinner with Henry and Regina had been a little awkward at first, in that she'd had to keep herself from both staring and grinning stupidly at the brunette across the table. They'd managed to keep up their usual banter and Henry didn't find their behaviour too strange, even though the exchanges between the two women were rather more playful and good-natured than they'd ever been before.

Emma had insisted on cleaning up while Henry ran into the den to pick out their preferred viewing for the evening. Meanwhile, Regina had snuck up behind her while she was washing dishes and done some particularly inappropriate groping while their son was in the next room and Emma's hands were preoccupied.

And even though Emma had  _told_  Snow that she'd be home that night to talk, she'd sort of put her phone on silent, spent the evening bundled up on the couch with Henry watching Spiderman, and fallen asleep next to him while they read books in his too-small bed. Regina hadn't woken her, so Emma had slept the whole night through and woken to find 4 missed calls and a series of frantic texts from formerly-Mary-Margaret.

She'd left Regina a note and set out on her walk early in the morning. She was a bit surprised and a lot pleased to find that the once-mayor was sleeping in these days. She deserved the rest.

While walking, Emma sent a text to Snow, saying she'd be home for dinner and had to run some errands first, apologizing for the night before. The subtext of her message, if it could be derived at all, was that Emma was an adult and could stay out if she wanted to. But she decided against actually including that part.

Snow called her as soon as the message was sent, of course. Emma ignored it. She was on a mission.

* * *

"Ruby? Are you here?" Emma called out as she stepped into Granny's Diner. The place was silent except for the humming coffee maker. It was a little eerie.

The silence was quickly shattered as Ruby sat up straight in one of the booths, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey Rubes – did you _sleep_  here?" Emma asked, a little startled by the waitress's sudden appearance. Ruby was one of the few people in town not bothered by Emma still using her "Storybrooke" name to identify her. Emma had a feeling the woman called "Red" actually preferred it.

"No, not overnight, just for the last," Ruby looked at her watch, pulling it back as though her eyes were still too foggy to read it, "Thirty minutes or so. Don't tell Gran. She'd kill me."

Emma took the seat across from Ruby. The brunette looked absolutely exhausted.

"Let me guess. You've been wolf-running around the woods all night."

Ruby quirked her mouth to the side and avoided Emma's eyes.

"Maybe."

Emma put her hands up in a surrender of judgement. "Hey, it doesn't bother me. You know what you're doing."

"So what brings you to our humble and satisfyingly empty digs?" Ruby said.

Emma hesitated. There were so few people in town that would even acknowledge Regina, but she couldn't recall exactly how much resentment Ruby had for the woman. She hoped it was at a creeping minimum.

"Well I actually kind of wanted to ask you for a favour." Emma said slowly.

Ruby narrowed her eyes.

"What kind of favour?"

"I'm taking someone on a date."

Ruby's eyes drew open nearly as wide as her mouth which soon slipped into a full grin. The smile made her look particularly wolfish.

"A date?! Who the hell  _with_?" Ruby shrieked excitedly. Emma winced at the severity of the sound in the quiet café. "Sorry," Ruby offered, adjusting her tone. "I just mean, who in this town would you actually want to date?"

Emma smirked, her cheeks heating up a little.  _Better out than in, right?_

"Don't freak out." Emma said. "It's Regina."

Ruby stared at her for a second before bursting out into laughter. In seconds, the brunette was absolutely losing it, falling down completely in the booth seat before sitting up again and catching sight of Emma's rather serious expression. Ruby stopped laughing immediately.

"Holy shit. You're not kidding."

Emma shook her head. "Nope."

"Does Snow know?"

"Well it's a pretty recent thing and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression she's  _not_  going to be super supportive." Emma deadpanned.

"That's an understatement." Ruby muttered.

"Which is  _why_  I haven't told her yet, and why I don't really want to tell her until I can determine if it's something that's going to work or not." Emma admitted. She still had her doubts. It was pretty hard  _not_  to in any situation involving Regina.

Ruby paused for a moment, considering her friend, still trying to figure out whether the Sheriff was putting her on.

"But you do want that, right? For it to work out?" Ruby asked.

Emma smiled.

"Yeah. I think I really do."

Ruby leaned back against the booth and sighed.

"All right. What do you need from me." She relented.

* * *

Regina was sitting alone on the couch in her sitting room, trying for the thirtieth time to read a paragraph of a book she'd picked up from her shelves. She'd stacked various tomes in them over the years, never really having much time to read many of them. Now, when she had all the time in the world, she couldn't concentrate enough to finish one page.

But that was partly Emma's fault.

She'd been a bit disappointed that the blonde had slipped out so abruptly that morning. But then she'd found a note labelled "Regina" taped to the stairwell that had made her smirk in spite of herself.

_I went for a walk. I'll be back for my car. Hopefully you'll have dragged your ass out of bed by then so I can re-attach my eyes to it._

She shook her head recalling the blonde's indiscretion – leaving a note like that out where Henry could find it. But even though Regina had been sleeping in these days, she still managed to wake up before her son, almost by instinct more than anything else since he was usually out of bed mere minutes after her.

She had breakfast prepared when he'd come down that morning. It was the last hour she'd had with him before he had to return to Snow's place again. She'd ruffled his hair sadly as he ate perfectly-browned pancakes and he'd given her one of those crooked smiles that reminded her more and more of Emma's. Only now, it didn't hurt when he reminded her of the precocious blonde. Instead it lit her up a little more.

After he was dropped off and safely tucked away in Snow's picket fortress, Regina returned to her empty house, to her frequently empty life, feeling absolutely abandoned. Emma had only popped in for the briefest time, giving Regina a quick kiss before she nearly sprinted out the door, mumbling something incoherent about Ruby and making it home before Snow figured out a way to permanently ground her.

Regina selfishly wished she could have postponed Emma's exit, but she knew that wasn't really the way to make amends. Might as well play fair. For now.

Besides, she was feeling poorly and didn't really want Emma around to notice.

And now, when she was trying desperately to finish this damned paragraph and absorb any kind of meaning from it whatsoever, her phone was buzzing every few minutes with another message from either Emma or Henry.

Both of them were purportedly at the dinner table with Snow and James yet each was sending frequent texts to the tune of either boredom or annoyance (the latter specifically on Emma's part). It wasn't until Regina had finally moved down the page of her book that her phone rang – a call this time – and she huffed furiously and tossed the book to the floor.

She picked it up without checking who it was. She had a pretty good guess.

"I have no earthly idea how you're able to make phone calls while sitting across the table from Snow. Never mind the incessant texting." Regina said blandly, inspecting her nails.

"Me and Henry are taking turns distracting them. Besides, I'm not  _at_ the table right now. I'm in the bathroom." Emma whispered conspiratorially. Regina smirked.

"You know, if you want them to stop treating you like you're their teenaged daughter, it would probably be a good idea to act with a modicum of maturity," Regina teased.

"That would be a lot easier if they weren't jumping down my throat. David's not so bad – I mean James. Shit. But Snow just keeps grilling me." Emma said. "I wish you were here."

Regina laughed.

"While I enjoy the sentiment, I can  _assure_ you that would be utterly disastrous." Regina said. She could just imagine the look on Snow's face if she–

Regina clutched at her chest. Her eyes squeezed shut. There was a sudden sharp pain there, the same one that had been hitting her now and again ever since bringing Emma and Snow back from the other world. She could barely hear what Emma was saying as she struggled to stay quiet.

"Maybe." Emma said with a smirk. "But at least it would be the entertaining kind. And it would be a more even match-up. Henry's a good kid, but he doesn't have the mouth on him that you do." She paused, waiting for a reply that didn't come.

"Regina?" Emma said softly, a tone of worry in her voice. "Are you still there?"

Regina was still clutching at her chest, gripping the phone in the white knuckles of her other hand. She took a small breath and managed, "Yep," in response, just to settle Emma's nerves.

Regina looked down at her fingertips which were sparking slightly. She didn't need a mirror to know her eyes had turned a swirling shade of violet – the same as they'd been at the well between worlds. She reluctantly extended her arm out and filled the fireplace up with tendrils of violent flames.

"Are you all right?" Emma asked hurriedly.

Finally, the pain subsided, little by little, lapping away like a low tide. Regina steadied herself against the couch.

"I'm fine, dear." She said softly. "You should go easy on them. They are your parents after all. Give them a chance to be."

"Regina," Emma began. It was strange to hear the woman defending Snow and James, but then she guessed the brunette knew what it was to feel like an unwanted parent. Still, the sudden weakness in her voice was worrying. "Do you want me to come over? I can be there in ten." She wanted Regina to say yes, she wanted her to insist.

Instead she brushed away the thought.

"No, no. I'm perfectly fine. This is their night with you. Spend it there. I'll see you tomorrow right?" Regina said, returning to some state of normality. "Besides, if you go running out, who's going to keep Henry entertained for the rest of the evening?" She tried to add some lightness to her voice. She hoped it worked.

Emma worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Are you talking to someone in there?!" Snow asked, her voice shrill as it carried through the bathroom door.

It was going to be bad enough trying to calm the woman down without trying to explain running off into the night to tend to Regina. Emma sighed.

"Okay. But promise you'll call me if you need me? For anything." Emma said softly.

"I will." Regina affirmed. "And Emma?"

"Yeah?"

Regina's lips curled into a slow smile.

"I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow night."

"Me too. Night, Regina."

"Goodnight."

Emma hung up her cell phone, pushed it into her back pocket and took a deep breath, steeling herself. Somehow looking directly into the mouth of a dragon was nothing compared to looking into the eyes of a "disappointed" Snow.

"And just what took you so long?" Snow quipped as Emma stepped out of the bathroom.

"That doesn't seem like something I should be sharing at the dinner table," Emma said as she took her seat beside Henry. Snow rolled her eyes and sat back across from Emma.

"I heard you talking. Who were you on the phone with?" Snow asked.

"I was checking in with Ruby – she said someone was creeping her out at work and I wanted to make sure she was safe. Is that allowed?" Emma said. She tried to keep her tone neutral but failed. Snow seemed unsure, but accepted the excuse for the time being. Emma hoped her sense for honesty was not inherited from either of her parents.

The rest of dinner was held in stilted conversation. James tried to keep the mood up, but he couldn't quite monitor the tension between his wife and daughter. As soon as the dishes were cleared, he ushered Henry upstairs to play video games, leaving the women alone.

They sat in silence on the couch for a minute before Snow jumped up and made her way to the kitchen.

"Do you want some tea? I picked some fresh plants and made a recipe of my own the other day. I was hoping you'd help me test it out, see if it's any good." Snow said.

A peace offering. Emma smiled slightly, reminded of her old roommate and not her recently acquired mother. The new person – or rather the old person – that Snow had become was more abrasive than the timid Mary Margaret. But you didn't live 28 years one way and entirely switch back, no matter how short the time seemed. Just as there been a little bit of Snow left in Mary Margaret, there was a little of Emma's roommate left in her mother. It was comforting to see a bit of her familiar friend.

"Sure. That sounds great." Emma took a seat at the kitchen counter. She observed Snow flit about, boiling the water and assembling the loose tea into homemade bags. The methodical, practiced quality of her movements reminded her of Regina a little. She wondered absently if they'd ever been in a kitchen together, if her own mother had learned a few tricks from the queen. She wondered if there'd ever been moments of happiness between them in that former life.

Snow set down a mug for each of them, eyeing Emma a little warily, trying not to set her off again.

Emma thought about Regina's suggestion to give her parents a chance. She figured it was worth a shot. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to actually learn a little bit more about the truth behind the fairy tales. She shared her son's relentless curiosity. Come to think of it, she'd probably passed it on to him.

"So,  _Mom_ ," Emma began with a smirk. Snow shot her a glare. They both knew how much Emma hated calling her and James by their parental pronouns. But the mood of bitterness had lifted somewhat and Emma's use of the word came across as playful rather than pointed.

"When you met… James, did you know right away you wanted to be with him? Was it really all that love-at-first-sight thing?" Emma had to stop herself from saying "crap" or "bullshit" instead of "thing."

Snow smiled at the unexpected question. She looked up at the ceiling and considered her answer for a moment.

"Honestly?" She met Emma's eyes. "When I first met him I thought he was a royal pain in the ass. And a spoiled jerk. I stole from him, hit him in the face, and took off." Snow said with a smirk and a touch of self-satisfaction.

Emma laughed so abruptly she spat out tea all over the counter. As she wiped it up with her sleeve, Snow frowned.

"And he frigging  _married_  you after that?" Emma said, still laughing.

"Well that was still quite a ways down the road. The next time we met, he trapped me in a net and threatened to sell me out to Regina." Snow said, resuming her amusement at her somewhat unorthodox love story.

"And what did  _you_  do?" Emma liked this tale more and more as it developed.

"I tossed him into a river first chance I got." Snow said plainly, taking a sip of her tea.

Emma shook her head in awe.

"Somehow I feel like I'm missing the part where this becomes a love story." Emma said.

"Look, it took a long time for me to completely trust him. But  _after_  I threw him into the river, he saved my life. And then I saved his. It took me a little while longer to figure out that the bitterness I held against him and the way I treated him at first – it wasn't really because of him. And we eventually both realized we were wrong about each other. He saw me for who I really was, even when everyone thought I was a criminal. And I saw that he wasn't just some stuck-up prince. He was good. He  _is_ good." Snow stared off a little dreamily.

"And so are you." Emma affirmed. "Even though you were a petty thief on the run."

"Ha. Ha." Snow smirked into her mug.

Emma lifted her own mug in the air.

"This tea. Is the absolute best I have ever had. And I am not just saying that to suck up." Emma said.

"To true love and excellent tea," Snow raised her mug and clinked it against Emma's.

"I'll drink to that," Emma said as she took another sip. It was strange hearing the story of how Snow and James actually began their relationship. Even Henry's book had left out a few awkward details. It was oddly comforting too. Hearing that her mother and father had initially really disliked each other reminded her a bit of another couple who'd had a less than smooth start to their relationship.

Of course the situations were pretty different. Regina had really been bad, about as bad as it gets. But Emma couldn't help but feel that at the core of her, she wasn't the evil queen everyone expected her to be. At the core of her, Emma knew there was good there. People had mistrusted and pre-judged Emma all her life and she knew exactly what it was like.

It was easy for people to forget how lonely it was to be ignored or hated. Emma couldn't ever forget that loneliness. It had led her down some dark paths in her life and more than once to some increasingly bad decisions. But Emma had a feeling Cora's particular brand of hell was something else entirely. Something sadistic. How could anyone live through that and  _not_  be twisted by it?

As she sipped the last dregs of her tea and shared more stories with Snow late into the evening, Emma couldn't help but wonder about Regina's stories. She was curious to know which ones had been adjusted and which had been carefully omitted from the pages of Henry's favourite book.

* * *

Emma had never really been early for anything in her life. On time, sure, on the rare occasion she remembered which things she had to accomplish to commit such a feat. But this was the first time she'd been actually early for something.

She sat in her yellow bug outside of the mayoral mansion debating whether to suck it up and go to the door 20 minutes before she was expected or continue to wait in her car, mentally processing the reality that yes, this was really happening. She was about to pick Regina up. For a date.

"Jesus Christ." Emma muttered under her breath. She squinted up at Regina's bedroom window, trying to keep her breathing under control.

"Come on, Swan. Get yourself together. It's just a date. You've been on dates before. This is no different."

The pep-talk was not helping. This  _was_  different. She could tell by the whirlpool churning low in her stomach. Hopefully it wouldn't have the same effect as the time Jimmy Stint asked her out in 8th grade and she'd promptly expelled her swirling stomach contents onto the front of his leather coat.

She put her hands on the steering wheel and pressed her forehead against it, seeking something cool to soothe her heated forehead. It helped for a bit. She felt calm, she felt serene; she felt ready to face the most intimidating woman she'd ever met.

She heard a knock on the passenger window, nearly ejecting her out of car in surprise. She turned towards the sound.

Regina was smirking as she lowered her knuckle from the window. She was in a long black trenchcoat, tightly bundled. Emma leaned over and unlocked the passenger door so Regina could step inside.

The brunette sighed in great relief as she settled into the warmth of the car. She shook her hair back out of her face and looked at the blonde. Emma was still gripping the steering wheel a bit too tightly.

"You were out here nearly 15 minutes, Ms. Swan. I was beginning to fear you were going to drive off without coming to get me at all." Regina said with a raised eyebrow.

"You and me both." Emma replied with a shaky laugh.

"It's okay. I was ready early too. That's why I noticed you out here." Regina soothed.

Emma released her death-grip on the wheel.

"So where are we going?" Regina asked. She was genuinely curious. Storybrooke had a very limited selection of eateries even before the curse had lifted. Afterwards, a few of the regular places had closed up shop, including La Tandoor, the Indian eatery Regina had favoured most. But Emma had asked her to dress nicely so Regina figured she had something in particular planned.

"Promise you won't judge before we get there?" Emma asked, her face contorting.

"I absolutely refuse to promise that." Regina said.

"Then I absolutely  _refuse_  to tell you. In fact…" Emma reached into the back seat, shuffling a few things around and pulling out a plaid scarf. She held it up at eye level.

"And just what are you planning on doing with  _that_?" Regina asked incredulously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Emma grinned as she gestured with the scarf in Regina's direction. "May I?"

Regina glared at Emma momentarily sizing up the woman's intent. She finally rolled her eyes dramatically and leaned her head forward, offering it up to Emma.

Emma tied the makeshift blindfold neatly around the brunette's head, taking great pains not to muss her hair too much.

"Can you see anything?" Emma asked.

"No." Regina replied.

Emma dragged a finger over Regina's lips, prompting the lips to widen into a smile. Emma had caught herself often staring at the mayor's lips and assumed it was jealousy. After a while it became clear that longing was the more likely reason for her fixation.

"I was under the impression we were going somewhere." Regina said. The words stirred Emma from her trance.

"Yes! Yes, I'm going." Emma said frantically as she yanked the car's gearstick. The drive was short and quiet except for the puttering of the bug's engine, and when Emma reached their destination, she didn't even have her seatbelt off before her passenger spoke up.

"Granny's?!" Regina huffed. She folded her arms tightly across her chest, as much a physical indication of just how unimpressed she was and a veritable no-access symbol over her body.

"How the hell did you do that?" Emma asked, checking the scarf for holes.

"I've lived here for 28 years. I can always tell which part of town I'm in, blindfolded or otherwise." Regina said. "Now may I remove it?" Regina lifted her hand to the scarf, anxious to tear it off.

"Nuh, uh uh. Not yet. Not until we're inside." Emma said, lightly smacking Regina's hand away. She rounded the car to the passenger side door and guided Regina out by hand, wrapping her other arm around Regina's waist to steady her on the icy sidewalk.

"You don't waste time, do you?" Regina said close to Emma's ear. Her breath was warm against Emma's neck. Emma let out a little laugh.

"I'm very accommodating to my elders." Emma replied. Regina gasped and smacked Emma. Or tried too. She ended up swiping at the air causing her foot to slip, nearly toppling them both. They chuckled as Emma tightened her hold on the woman's waist and led her up the steps and through the front door of Granny's Café.

Emma tried to dismantle Regina's coat but Regina smacked  _her_  hand away this time.

"Nope. Not until this scarf is off of my face." Regina said.

"And why's that?"

"Because I want to see your reaction when you see how overdressed I am for the likes of–"

Regina didn't have the breath to finish because the blindfold was off and her eyes were wide in assessment of the near-unrecognizable café. She'd never seen it look so resplendent in all of its years. The décor had been swapped out at almost every detail for things that were suitably regal and just Regina's taste. Bold black-and-white prints replaced the kitschy tablecloths and booth seats. The blinds had been replaced with rich, deep-red curtains, and the lighting was warmer somehow, less fluorescent than she'd ever seen it, accented by a line of candles on the bar-top. Nat King Cole's voice was crooning through the room rather than the typical top-forty radio. The café was empty except for the two of them.

"I had Ruby close it for the night. Just for us. We can deal with onlookers another time. But tonight, I thought this might be a better first-foray back into town." Emma said softly. "Now may I take your coat?" She put her hands on Regina's shoulders and Regina merely nodded, barely able to process the efforts to which Emma had inexplicably gone for her. She was also trying not to acknowledge the idea that this kind of excursion would happen more than once. Best not to get her hopes up.

Emma, meanwhile, just about dropped Regina's coat to the floor.

Regina's dress was skin tight, long-sleeved, and two inches above the knee, poured in a deep maroon. The back was high but the neckline was low, revealing plenty of Regina to Emma's eyes. A long gold chain with a feather pendant lay against her skin. She'd never seen Regina so obviously sexy. Granted, Emma found the woman sexy in just about anything, but this was another level entirely. It was a complete departure from the buttoned-up mayoral garb she usually wore. The black tights and tall, black, high-heeled boots didn't hurt one bit.

"Your turn, dear." Regina husked with a side-smile. She reached for Emma's coat and removed it slowly. Emma blanched, feeling suddenly like her boring black, A-line dress was totally inadequate. Regina dropped her head to the side as she surveyed the blonde and her grin made Emma light right up again.

"You look delectable." Regina said.

"And you look…" Emma hesitated. "I don't think there's a way I can say it without cursing." Regina laughed as she took both coats and hung them up next to the door.

Regina pointed up into the air, as if the music was physically swirling around them.

"Nat King Cole. How did you know?" Regina asked.

"I had Henry raid your collection before he left." Emma said. "Now, booth or table, Ms. Mills?"

"Booth. Definitely."

They sat down across from one another and Emma thanked the gods for the distance. At least now she might be able to focus and keep her hands to herself for the remainder of the date. Although it did not help that when Regina leaned over the table like that she could just make out and edge of black lace underneath.

"Eyes up, Emma." Regina said. "Now, you've been home for nearly two weeks and yet I haven't heard much about your 'trip,' for lack of a better word." Regina said, then corrected herself. "Well, besides the snippets Henry's come home raving about. But I get the feeling I'm missing things."

"Where should I even start?"

As Emma regaled the brunette with details of Giants and ogres, Aurora, Mulan, Lancelot and Hook, Regina added in Storybrooke developments where appropriate. Ruby came through a couple times to serve food and drinks, dressed in formal waitress attire with nearly every inch of skin covered, causing Regina to quirk an eyebrow. Ruby was just as charming and accommodating as ever, not once making Regina feel unwanted. And she only stayed long enough to do her job and then return to the back room to watch TV and await Emma's next texted request.

It was the subject of Hook that first darkened Regina's demeanor somewhat. She'd heard that the Captain had shown up in Emma's travels, but hearing just _how_  involved he'd been gave her pause. It especially worried her when the subject of Cora also came up. Emma had been skirting the topic of Regina's mother all evening, finding ways to divert the conversation wherever she could. But it didn't stay off the table for long.

"They're not going to stop until they find some way here," Regina said quietly. She pushed around the salmon on her plate, as if debating whether or not she could stomach another bite.

"I know." Emma said. She'd been reluctant to share the details with Regina, but the woman had been so keen. And it all had to come out sooner or later. She reached out to still Regina's left hand, willing her to drop the fork momentarily. Emma held the hand in her own, feeling it lightly shaking. She dragged her thumb across the scar tissue in Regina's palm. The wraith's mark was fainter but still there, a constant reminder of just how close she'd come to death.

"Regina, for now, just be here with me, okay? We'll figure it out. We'll be ready." Emma said.

_You can never be ready for her._ Regina thought, but she kept quiet as Emma squeezed her hand. She'd fought so hard and so long for happiness and here she was ignoring it.

"I'm sorry. It's not fair of me to get sidetracked. Especially with all the work you've done. How  _did_  you convince Granny to serve something that isn't a burger?" Regina asked with a grin. She began to eat again when Emma released her hand.

"Let's just say Ruby and I managed to get this place stocked and under wraps all by ourselves. Granny's on a need-to-know - which she _doesn't_. Also, she's down the road at George's Tavern reasonably plastered by now, celebrating her night off." Emma replied.

They finished their meals and Ruby cleared away the dishes, sweeping back out with a piece of cake for them to share and some more wine.

Over dessert, something occurred to Emma. Something to celebrate.

"By the way, Henry told me you're not using magic anymore. I meant to give my congratulations." Emma said brightly through a forkful of cake.

Regina flinched at the light tone. Emma's smile faltered.

"Regina, what's wrong?" Emma asked.

Regina put her fork down. She knew lying to Emma would be pointless. The woman would know right away and anyway, she didn't  _want_  to lie. It was bad enough she was currently hiding the truth from Henry. Even though she knew it was to protect him, it didn't make her feel any better about doing so.

"Please don't tell Henry." Regina said.

"Don't tell him what?" Emma asked.

"When I brought you back, I had to absorb a rather excessive amount of the magic Gold and I used – the fairy dust." Regina began.

"Right, and you opened up the well for me and Snow to come through." Emma said.

"Yes. But that magic, it had nowhere else to go but inside of me. And since then it's sort of like, having an overabundance of electricity pumping through me. And if I don't let any of it out–"

"You'll overload. Like a blown fuse." Emma finished for her with no hint of humour.

Regina nodded. "Exactly."

"What can I do?" Emma said immediately. Regina blinked. It was not the reaction she'd been expecting. She expected some kind of scolding, some kind of implication that it was her fault the magic had to be absorbed in the first place and she had to deal with the consequences, or some resentment that she was lying to Henry again. She had not expected Emma to offer to help. But then, Emma had been surprising her a lot lately.

"You can't do anything. I have to let it out all at once or little by little. I've been doing small things, lighting fires or cooking meals, anything harmless that I can do to stem the flow a bit. It seems to put the pain off for the time being."

"You're lying." Emma said, her brow furrowing.

"What? No I'm not." Regina said, suddenly angry at the implication.

"Not about all of it – just when you said I can't do anything. You're lying. I don't know why or how, but you are." Emma said. "Please, Regina. If there's anything I can do, I want to try."

Regina was confused. She didn't think she'd been lying. The only plausible explanation was the little nagging hypothesis she'd been struggling with since Emma had left Storybrooke. Regina couldn't make the portal through the hat work until Emma had touched her. She hadn't even been able to conjure any magic until that moment. With all the time she'd had alone to think since then, she could only guess why that was.

"The truth is I don't know if you can help." Regina said. Emma nodded confirming she sensed no falsehood there, so Regina continued. "But I do have a suspicion that you yourself are capable of very powerful magic, though without any means to harness it just yet."

Emma leaned over the table and considered this.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you're a magical conduit of some kind, no doubt because of your origins. I don't know if that means you can help me or not." Regina finished.

"Who  _would_  know?" Emma asked, then before Regina could answer, Emma figured it out herself. "Gold."

Regina nodded. "He might know something."

"Then I should go talk to him."

Regina covered Emma's hand in her own.

"Let me. I have to speak with him about something else anyway." Regina said.

"What something else?"

"Hook and Cora, specifically."

Emma leaned back and withdrew her hand.

"Regina. Do you really think that's such a good idea?"

"They're coming, Emma. And we need all the help we can get. He's just as afraid as I am. He could be a powerful ally."

"The enemy of my enemy and all that, huh?" Emma teased lightly. Regina smirked.

"Something like that." Regina said. "But enough of that for now."

Regina stood from the booth and rounded the table to Emma's side, extending her hand out to the other woman. Emma raised an eyebrow but took the hand instinctively. Regina guided her out of her seat.

"Time to go? I guess it must have been a pretty awful date." Emma said.

"Nonsense. I just want a dance. And since this is from my collection, I know which song is next." Regina said. She instantly took Emma into her arms, naturally taking the lead.

She took a few steps, guiding Emma along, pressed their bodies closely together. It was a slow, dreamlike set of steps, which Emma was glad for since she had neither the coordination nor the mental capacity to conjure much concentration at the moment. Being this close to Regina all of a sudden had left her in a kind of daze. Instead she relented to the ease at which Regina slipped into each movement, her body gliding along in a practised sensuality.

After the instrumental bit in the middle, Emma heard Regina voice carrying the words along with the music. Emma's eyes fell shut as she listened.

" _The mere idea of you, the longing here for you, you'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you._ " Regina sang softly. Emma was unsurprised to find that the brunette had a lovely voice to go along with everything else.

Emma pulled back so she could see Regina's face. Regina stopped singing and her eyes fell to Emma's lips. They'd slowed down in the dance, only swaying slightly, and Emma took the opportunity to bring a hand to Regina's cheek and pull her in for a long kiss. It was gentle and tentative, the best kind of unexpected. Regina pulled back reluctantly to get some air, her chest heaving and her skin filled with colour.

Emma thought just for a second she saw a little whirl of violet in Regina's brown eyes, but she blinked and it was gone.

"I believe, Sheriff, that it's time for you to take me home."

They grabbed their coats and headed out the door, Emma instantly looping her arm into Regina's.

"I thought we could walk. It's such a nice night. Although you're not really wearing the best footwear for it." Emma glanced down at Regina's towering boots.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Regina said.

The potential of falling on her ass was not what Regina was worried about. Regina's mind flicked back through her nightmares, the ones where the townsfolk – Emma and Henry included – chased her down with torches and tied her to a tree for the purpose of her express execution. She wasn't really sure that was out of the realm of possibility yet.

"Nonsense. It'll be nice. I'll be right here, nothing will happen to you," Emma reassured, spotting the worry in Regina's eyes. Regina hugged Emma's arm a little tighter to her side and nodded.

The streets were thankfully empty. No one was around to stand and gawk at the sight of the saviour and the evil queen sharing laughter and body heat as they made the trek from the centre of town to Regina's place.

Emma watched Regina take the step to her front door and hesitated. Emma had no idea what protocol was anymore. They'd kissed, danced, groped, and yet technically only been on one whole date. She'd been telling herself all day that she was going to take it slow, that it would be safer if she did it that way. But when Regina turned to face her in her doorway, her heart beat a little faster.

"Aren't you coming in?" Regina said, the all-too familiar glint in eye.

"I don't know." Emma said after a long pause. "I don't know if I should."

"Oh."

"Not because I don't want to," Emma said frantically. She stepped closer to the door, herself on one side in the cold air and Regina on the other in the warm front room.

"I just don't want to rush things. I want to take my time, if you'll let me." Emma said. She pulled at Regina's trench coat, inching them a little closer in spite of what she was saying.

In all honesty, Regina wanted to take her time too. But she also didn't know how much time she had left with Cora on her heels. Still, to force Emma's hand at this point – and she knew she could topple the woman's self-control fairly easily – would be selfish. And she was trying to be less of that. She planted a slow, chaste kiss on Emma's lips and pulled back.

"I'll allow it for the time being. But I won't be able to wait long, dear. You know how impatient I can be." Regina said with a grin. Emma stepped back reluctantly and caught her breath again.

"Goodnight, Regina."

"Goodnight, Emma."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "With the right intention, nearly anything can be achieved."

It was just after ten o'clock at night when Emma finally made it back to the apartment. She tiptoed down the hall to Snow's door, carefully releasing the lock and cringing at the metal clicks echoing against the walls. She pushed the door open slightly, slipping herself inside and bringing the door to rest in its frame as quietly as possible. In spite of herself, she let out a small sigh, basking in the warmth of the dark apartment and the realization that her evening with Regina had gone even better than expected.

Which was about when the lights in the apartment came on, seemingly of their own accord. Emma whipped around, her hand groping at her dress where her belt would be, clambering for her absent gun.

Across the room, Snow was waiting impatiently by the light switch in a pair of fluffy pink pyjamas, tapping one foot in her god-awful slippers. Her arms were crossed. Her teeth gritted. Emma had to restrain herself from whipping around and sprinting back the way she'd come.

" _What am I twelve?_ " Emma shook the impulse away. She stood a little straighter, the way she'd seen Regina do in times of stress, and crossed the room to the fridge. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and leaned against the kitchen counter, finally paying full attention to her mother.

"Yes?" Emma said.

"I got a very interesting call from Grumpy earlier." Snow said.

"Grumpy…?" Emma quirked an eyebrow as if she didn't have the slightest idea which townsperson corresponded to the character. In truth, it  _was_  a little difficult getting all of their stories straight, as it were, but the dwarves tended to stick out from the rest, this one in particular.

Snow rolled her eyes at Emma's feigned ignorance.

"Leroy." She said harshly, quickly losing any patience she'd had. "He said he saw you and Regina walking down Main Street, looking, quote-unquote  **cosy**." Snow made quotation bunny ears with her fingers to emphasize.

"If you want me to have a serious conversation, you're going to have to drop the air quotes," Emma said, followed by a sip of juice.

Snow crossed her arms again and huffed.

"What were you doing?! Regina is many things, but she is  _not_ your friend, Emma."

"She doesn't have anyone. I don't see what the problem is." Emma said flippantly.

"She has Henry. Which is more than she deserves." Snow's tone was darker than Emma had ever heard it.

" _Jesus, you're so fucking superior_." Emma thought.

"Look, I know she's done horrible things, but she's done good things too. She's  _trying_. And she helped us. Not to mention, we're about to have a much worse common enemy." Emma said.

"What makes you so sure she won't join her mother when the time comes? You heard what Cora said. She's looking for a family reunion, not an attack on her daughter." Snow's eyes were fixed on Emma's, determined to make her see reason.

"Regina won't help her." Emma said.

"How can you know?" Snow asked, exasperated by her daughter's blindness.

"Because she can't lie to me. And because she  _wouldn't_." Emma said. The words were true but she knew they sounded hollow to an indignant Snow.

"Why were you with her tonight? Really?" Snow asked.

Emma smirked slightly. She'd been scared of telling Snow before, but right now, in a bout of righteous anger, she felt like she was going to rather enjoy this. She leaned in slightly.

"I was taking Regina on a date."

Snow blinked. Her arms fell to her sides.

"A… date?" Snow spoke as if the word were foreign.

"Yeah, you know, nice dinner, dancing, the works." Emma said, emptying the last dregs of her glass and putting it in the dishwasher.

"As allies, or friends? Or… what, exactly?" Snow asked, her voice weak.

Emma wanted to laugh at how dense the woman was being, or rather, how adamantly she refused to draw the correct conclusion.

"As two people who are mutually attracted to one another." Emma said.

"You can't be serious." Snow answered with a laugh. Emma didn't move or speak, she merely held her mother's eyes with a stern expression. "You are serious," Snow breathed as the colour fell out of her face. Pale as snow, indeed. Emma thought the woman might faint.

"How? Why? You actually have  _feelings_ for her?" Snow enunciated 'feelings' as if she were a grossed-out child.

_"You are what you teach, I guess."_ Emma thought.

"Yes. I do." Emma replied. "And it's the best I've felt in a long time. This is the first time I've felt this way since being with Henry's dad."

"And look how well that turned out." Snow said in a moment of bitterness. When she realized her words, her eyes went wide, but it was too late to take it back. Emma stiffened, nodded twice, and dropped her eyes to the ground.

"And this is exactly why I didn't want to tell you." Emma said. She tried to turn away, to leave, but Snow caught her arm before she could escape.

"Emma, wait. I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. It's just," Snow let her hand fall to Emma's, gripping her fingers gently. "You know who we are now, who  _she_ is. How can you want someone like that? How can you forgive her for everything?"

"I know who she is now better than I ever did. And I can forgive her because I…" Emma took a stabilizing breath and met Snow's eyes again, "I like her. A lot. Did you ever think the reason she was never happy is because no one gave her the chance?" Emma knew something about chances, about how badly they were needed and how hard they were to come by.

Snow stared back in silence for a moment. She had tried to forgive Regina before, to let her start anew. It hadn't worked. But maybe the timing had been off. An opportunity at the wrong time wasn't really an opportunity at all. If Regina hadn't been  _ready_  for forgiveness or change or renewal when she'd had chances before, then she simply couldn't do it, no matter how reasonable the offer.

But maybe now, with Emma, with Henry, there was a chance worth taking. Perhaps the Evil Queen could finally be vanquished by her own will and find happiness in this other world.

Snow couldn't entirely shake the feeling that it was all a trick, that Regina was using Emma as a pawn in yet another twisted game. But if Emma was correct, and Regina really couldn't lie to her, then maybe her daughter was just the person to set things right and hold the former-mayor to her word.

There would still be the issue of punishment – some townspeople were still out for blood and it would be hard to make them see this new development in a good light. But they would take it step by step, as they always did. Now as a family.

"You know she's technically about three times your age, right?" Snow said suddenly.

Emma snickered.

" _That's_  what you're going with?"

Snow shrugged. "Hey, you know, last ditch effort."

* * *

The front of Gold's pawn shop was dark in the morning; the closed sign was up. Nonetheless, the door was open, and Regina let herself in, taking tentative steps as she closed the door behind her. She brushed some of the snow from her jacket as she took a few more steps.

"Rumple?" Regina said softly in the dark shop. She quirked an ear towards the back room but heard nothing. She turned to leave but a small gold lamp on the countertop caught her eye. She crossed to it and picked it up in her hands, recalling Leopold's story of how he released the Genie of Agrabah, the former moniker of Sidney Glass.

She ran a finger over the lid, held her breath and popped it open. She glanced into the empty interior, nearly laughing at herself for the momentary belief that maybe something else would be inside.

"Reliving past romances?" Gold's voice shook her from distraction and she whipped around, nearly dropping the lamp. He stood at the door to his workshop, cane in hand. For all of his limping, his short stature, his meek expression, he never ceased to be intimidating. Regina placed the lamp back in its spot.

"Remembering old debts. Things that need to be set right." She replied.

The man's eyebrows rose. "Really? Any in particular coming to mind?"

"Several. Yours and mine to each other, specifically. I owe you a lot, and you owe me. But right now, I need your help." She said.

"And why should I help  _you_?" He took a couple steps closer.

"Because you're as scared as I am of what – or more accurately  _who_  – is coming. And because Hook won't stop until  _you're_  dead or  _he_  is." Regina stood firm though she was tempted to step back.

"And how do you expect me to help? I don't have much more magic than you do." He said smoothly.

"I think that's less than true, Rumple." Regina said.

"It's Gold, dearie. Mr. Gold, if you prefer, but I'd rather you didn't use my old name. If you don't mind." He nearly growled. Regina nodded in agreement.

"I need any information you have on magical transference and absorption." Regina said.

"Ahh, still suffering some side effects from your little change of heart, are you?" Gold said, with a small smile of triumph.

"In a word, yes." Regina said. She didn't want to prompt him into further argument. She needed to be civil, she needed him to comply, to trust her as much as possible.

"But your heart hasn't given out yet. I wonder why that is? Must be some awfully powerful countermeasures you're already taking." Gold said.

Regina furrowed her brow. She hadn't been making much headway in stopping the periodic pain or wasting much of the leftover energy. It was still bubbling inside her chest, threatening to spill over at any time. She hadn't made any grandiose steps to stop it.

"Not really. I've been trying to spend some of the magic here and there, nothing extensive. What do you mean by countermeasures?" Regina asked.

"Well I'm a little rusty on all the ins and outs, but the fact that you're still alive right now means something is  _keeping_  you alive. Now if you don't know what that is, I'm not sure how I can help you." Gold paused. He scratched at his neck, mulling something over. He tilted his head slightly to the side. "Unless…"

Regina suppressed the urge to gulp.

"Unless?" She tested.

His eyes flashed up to hers.

"My queen, may I see your heart?" He said with a side smile and a flicker of mischief.

"Excuse me?" Regina said in disbelief.

"You can do it, can't you? Reach in and pluck out your own heart? Let me take a look?" Gold took a step towards her and she took a step back.

"Yes – I mean, yes I  _can_ do it, but  _why_ would I?"

"If I can see the heart, I may be able to detect just what it is that's keeping it from giving out." Gold replied. He stepped back again, letting her relax a little.

She held his gaze a bit longer, searching for a hint of subterfuge, for any indication that he was planning to harm her. He  _had_ tried to kill her not too long ago. The mark on her hand was a reminder of that. But on the verge of death and the verge of meeting her mother again for the first time in decades, she needed him. Being so close to losing everything had made her very trusting of late.

It was with a final deep breath that she reached into her chest, closed her eyes, and pulled out the beating heart from within. When it was out in the open air, she let out a strangled breath, the purple smoke settling in and out of her eyes for just a moment.

When she re-adjusted to the sensation, she looked down at her heart. The usual glowing, vibrant red orbs that she had pulled out of others in a life long ago were nothing like the one she held in her hand now. Her heart was sickly, the twists of black and purple veins bulged in the organ like streams of poison. Looking at it now, she wondered too how she was not yet dead.

Gold took a step towards her again and this time she stood in place. She met his eyes with a little nod of permission. He looked over it from all sides, his expression open and in awe. He had often wondered if Regina still had a heart at all after the years of torture, murder, and misdeeds, but here it was, on the very precipice of implosion.

"May I?" Gold asked.

Regina looked at him to wonder at what exactly he was asking for. He was reaching out his hands towards the heart, as if to hold it. She pulled back her hand on impulse.

"If you want me to help you, you have to make a few allowances." Gold said warily.

If he took her heart and crushed it, that would be that. Or else, he could keep it and control her without ever uttering another "please" again. But she knew how much he feared what was coming; she could feel the unease rolling from him in great gusts. And perhaps a show of faith could bring him closer, make him more willing to provide assistance.

She reluctantly put her arm out and he gently took the organ into his hands.

He studied it intently, turning it so he could see from all angles, so he could look through the translucent passages into the core. Regina felt each swipe of his fingers, each rest against his palms, but she felt no threat in him, not yet anyway. She was shocked by how careful he was with her very delicate heart.

"My, my. Isn't this interesting." Gold said, more to himself than to her.

"What is?" She asked quickly.

He glanced up at her, as if he had just remembered she was still there.

"Tell me something, Regina. Have you been seeing anyone recently?"

Regina's face was suddenly hot. How could he know? What exactly was he asking?

"Is that why you wanted my heart in your hands? So you could ask me if I'm  _dating_  someone?" Regina said indignantly.

Gold looked up at her and laughed a little.

"On the contrary, I didn't mean it that way. I merely meant, has anyone been helping you already to manage the excess of energy. But perhaps it is one in the same." Gold said cryptically.

Regina had the sudden temptation to wrench her heart back from him and hightail it out of the shop.

"No need to be scared. I mean to help, I do. But you know more than you're letting on." Gold said.

"It's Emma. I think." Regina said.

"What about her?"

"She helps, she…" Regina rubbed her forehead. "She has some kind of power, magic I think, that seems stabilizing. It helps. I don't understand how or why–"

"I think I might." Gold said. "You can take this back for now." He held out the heart to her and she took it gladly, restoring it to her chest in moments. It hurt more going back in, restoring the weight of unstable magic to her body. Still, it felt better to have it safely stowed than out in the open.

She hadn't noticed Gold had left the room until he had returned with a stack of books, cradling them under the arm that wasn't gripping his cane. She relieved him of the pile and put them down on top of the counter to get a better look.

"These are all I have to give you. Ms. Swan may be able to help you, if she so chooses. You certainly need another individual to heal the damage, and if she's as powerful as you think she is, she might be the one to do it."

Regina's eyes pored over the books. They were old and certainly not of this world. She wondered how Gold had managed to get so much of his collection and of others' from their world into this one. But she didn't have time to ask. Right now, the matter at hand was far more pressing.

She looked over the tomes – various magical recipe books, guides, and manuals. There were ten in all. She had no idea where to start. As if sensing her uncertainty, Gold sidled in next to her and separated two from the pile.

"Start with these. They should be the most relevant to your condition. There are chapters on absorption and extraction, at least in some detail. You might have to fill in some of the blanks yourself. Like I said, my knowledge is a bit lacking these days. But I seem to remember you're a very quick study," he said with a genuine smile.

She turned to look at him, recalling the man who'd helped her, who'd given her strength. Even if it had been the wrong kind, even if it had been of a variety too dark to save her, he  _had_ reached out. Certainly more than her mother ever had. She was strangely grateful that he'd freed her from ineptitude, even though he hadn't freed her from unhappiness. Even if he'd been manipulating her for his own benefit, he'd also given her the strength to stand up for herself.

"Thank you," she heard herself saying, as if it came from another voice.

He looked shocked when he met her eyes, but he saw that she actually seemed to mean it. The notion made him smile again.

"You're welcome." He said. Then he recovered himself a bit. "But you know this comes at a price."

"It's not a price, Gold. There is no contract. This is a compromise. An alliance. Do you think can you handle that?" Regina said with a smirk. She dropped a few books into her purse and folded the rest into her arms.

"That I can, dearie." He replied. "That I can."

* * *

Emma was nose-deep in a book for the first time in years. She was sprawled on her back in Regina's sitting room on the long, white sofa. She had never been much of a reader – school had been a test of her patience and complacency, neither of which ever held up for very long in academia.

But now she was reading with purpose, searching the yellowed pages of one of Gold's books for any answer to Regina's problem, for any solution involving a second magical source –  _her_.

Since she'd been such a lacklustre reader to begin with, it was slow, slogging work, but she was determined to find something useful, even if it killed her. " _Which is a very real possibility,"_  she thought as she re-read a sentence for the third time.

The reading was pretty interesting though, in light of the revelation that she  _herself_  had magic. The stack of books Regina had scattered on the table when Emma had arrived an hour earlier were essentially owner's manuals to having such powers and Emma figured picking up a few tips on how to control such things could come in handy for purposes other than the one at hand.

"Magic is all about intentions," Emma read aloud without noticing. She nearly jumped at the sound of her own voice in the quiet room, reminded that she had sent Regina upstairs to read. They'd attempted doing their research in the same room at first, but Emma had quickly found the woman's presence to be so distracting that she couldn't read a word without glancing over at the brunette with longing. After about ten minutes of torture, she'd demanded that the woman get her ass out of her eye line or she'd never be able to help in any way. Regina had smirked, planted a light kiss on Emma's forehead, and complied with the blonde's request.

Emma knew it was for the best to be in separate spaces. But she was kind of regretting her self-control.

" _With the right intention, nearly anything can be achieved_." Emma read. " _Incantations, spells, potions – these are nothing without a clear and focused intent. A goal. A motivation._ "

She'd always had trouble focusing. Every teacher, guardian, or counsellor she'd ever come into contact with had mentioned that deficiency in one way or another. Emma sighed. She thought briefly that with the right motivations – Henry and Regina, perhaps – she could school herself to maintain an attention span.

Emma flicked a few pages ahead. There was no table of contents in this thing, but she knew she had to skip past the basics in the beginning to get to anything remotely applicable.

Her eyes fell on a page with wavy blue script.

_"Absorbing and dispensing powerful magic,"_ it said at the top. She sat up abruptly, her eyes widening.

She skipped over the first bits – the part about retention. Regina had given her the bullet points on how it felt, what it meant, what kinds of things to look for. Emma had listened to each detail intently, growing more concerned with each added aspect, terrified of the consequences that would come if they failed to find a solution. She knew now how much it had been wearing on the brunette, how much she had to struggle with each round of pain, how hard it was to spill out only a little magic at a time to keep from destroying herself or the entire town.

She dragged her finger down the page, coming to the section entitled, " _Dispensing_ ," and began to read.

_"Dispensation must be wrought by two – the patient and one other – each possessing power enough to withstand the force of tearing the magic away and spending it."_ Emma gulped. She didn't think she really fit that bill at all, but she was desperate enough to try anything regardless of the risks.

She looked further down the page, searching for some kind of step-by-step instruction for what she was supposed to do, rather than the same cryptic, old-world bullshit on the rest of the pages.

Before she could get much further, she heard a pained cry ring out through the quiet house. Emma's heart stopped. She dropped the book and took off running up the stairs, towards Regina's bedroom where the woman had retired to read.

Emma burst through the closed door and her eyes immediately fell to the woman's body on the crisp, white carpet. Regina's eyes were filled with what looked like purple smoke, swirling in pools where brown irises once had been. Her body was wracking with tremors, reminding Emma of a seizure she'd seen a kid have once back in the orphanage.

Emma fell to her knees beside the woman and grabbed her shoulders, trying to still her.

"Regina? Regina, talk to me!" Emma said frantically. She didn't know what to do, she was shaking with fear. They weren't ready for this, not now. She didn't have time to read the rest of some stupid book. The way Regina was violently thrashing, gasping for air and clutching blindly at Emma's wrists, Emma knew there wasn't much time for anything at all.

The brunette wasn't looking at her; the violet eyes were unfocused somewhere on the ceiling. She choked on her air, as though she couldn't breathe. Emma felt her eyes sting with tears.

"Regina, what do I do?" Emma said loudly, as if volume could help her reach the woman.

Regina's body lifted upward, her chest thrust high as if her heart were trying to burst out of it, and with a final gasp, Regina slumped to the floor. The brunette lay motionless. Silent.

Emma was still gripping the woman's shoulders, her own limbs shaking, her breath coming out in haggard sobs.

"Regina?" She shook the woman's shoulders lightly. "REGINA." Emma's voice sounded all the more terrified and wild in the quiet of the room. Regina's skin was too pale. Her body too still. Emma couldn't bring herself to reach for a pulse to verify what she already knew.

"You can't, you can't leave me. You can't do this. You can't!" Emma said, barely able to voice the words through her sobs.

She grasped at the tiny bits of information she'd gleaned from the books but could barely think straight.

" _Magic is about intentions… tearing magic away and spending it…"_ The words felt hollow, meaningless.

" _FOCUS, Emma. What is your intention?"_  She thought as she gazed down at the lifeless body in front of her.

"I need to bring her back." Emma said out loud.

" _Tear the magic away. Then spend it._ " She thought.

She dragged her hands from Regina's shoulders across her collar bone to her chest, over her silent heart. She'd heard the stories of tearing hearts out, seen it in Henry's book, the illustrations were little to go on, but she had to try.

She closed her eyes and pressed against Regina's chest, fully expecting her hands to do nothing but stay put against the soft skin. But to her surprise, her hands fell through, into Regina's body, passing through as if it were water. Her eyes shot open to verify that yes, her hands were  _inside_  Regina. She felt a cold mass against her fingertips and she gently gripped it and pulled it free. This heart was not red, but purple and black, a sickly bruised thing that lay in her hands, completely still.

She stared at it for a moment. For all its stillness, there was still something inside, something moving, like thick swirls of smoke. The leftover magic Regina had been trying to contain was still working wildly inside the chambers. Emma could feel it pulsating somehow, awakening something she hadn't believed really existed in her.

" _Intention,"_  she thought. She looked back down at Regina, holding the heart in one hand and bringing it back down into Regina's chest, still gripping it once it had been returned to its proper place. With her hand around the heart, Emma closed her eyes and tried to recall the only time she'd seen a defibrillator in use.

She was twelve and her foster mother was having a heart attack. Lila, her name was. She was the first person to take an active interest in Emma, the first one to try and bring something out of her, to restore some vitality to her life. Not just some foster pack-parent out for government money.

But then she'd keeled over clutching her chest in the kitchen one day. Emma had rode in the ambulance, gripping Lila's hand. In the hospital she'd stood on her tiptoes, peering into the window in the emergency room door, catching only glimpses of the heart monitor flat lining, the doctor gelling the paddles and calling, "Clear," as he pressed them down to the woman's chest and the body had wracked with electric current.

It hadn't been enough then, not enough to save her, but it  _had_  to be enough today. Emma needed to restart Regina's heart and she needed to do it now.

She imagined herself as a kind of wire, something for a current to pass through, she squeezed her eyes closed more tightly and pictured that purple smoke travelling from Regina's heart into her hand, into her own chest. For a second, there was nothing.

"Come on," she breathed.

Her words seemed to shatter the inactivity – she felt a rush of energy burst into her palm, the one still pressed to Regina's heart. It rippled up her arm and into her chest and nearly thrust her backwards. Emma held on and stayed firmly in position, even as she gasped with strain and her eyes snapped open. They were filled with swirling violet plumes.

There was a moment, just a moment, that she thought she'd lose control. The magic seemed to fill every cell of her and she couldn't breathe, couldn't move. But she felt the heart still in her hand, still in the other woman's chest, and she remembered herself long enough to imagine sending the energy back through her in a different way,  _spending_ it this time. Spending it on the revival of a woman's life.

She leaned forward as a surge of power wove in her and then out of her, back down through her arm and hand and into the organ in its grasp. She could feel the heart grow warm and beat suddenly, as if injected with adrenaline. Regina's eyes shot open and she gasped for air, her body jolting with the force.

This time, Regina's eyes were brown.

Emma smiled before falling back, her eyes rolling back into her head, her hand leaving Regina's body, her head hitting the carpet with a thud.

Regina was breathing heavily, blinking black spots out of her vision. She felt displaced, lost, she had no idea where she was. She looked around wildly, slowly realizing she was in her room. On the floor. Her eyes shifted to Emma's form.

She scrambled to the woman's side.

She felt for Emma's pulse and found it easily. Not dead. Just unconscious. She laughed somehow. She wasn't sure she'd be able to laugh at all, but she did. She laughed and held the unconscious form in her arms, unable to fathom how close she'd come to leaving this world and how the Saviour had rescued her from the hands of death yet again.

As her strength returned, Regina found herself renewed, the weight of the coursing energy finally lifted. She felt better than she had in years. She slung Emma's arm around her shoulder and leaned the restful body against her hip, hoisting her up and onto the bed. She pulled the comforter back and tucked it around her, sweeping the blonde hair out of her face.

Emma looked so peaceful, so beautiful, that Regina couldn't resist putting her lips to those pale pink ones, pressing against them lightly and planting a gentle kiss.

Suddenly those lips moved against her own.

"You know, when I'm asleep, what you're doing is technically sexual assault." Emma's voice was weak.

Regina smiled.

"Feel free to stop me, dear." Regina purred.

Emma reached her arms up and yanked the brunette into bed, pulling her half beside her and half on top of her. The blonde's eyes flicked open only for a moment to find Regina's. They smiled at each other and Emma found Regina's lips again, drawing the woman into her, pressing them together from chest to hip.

Emma seemed determined to initiate more, shifting to move on top of Regina, but Regina put a hand to the blonde's shoulder and pushed her back gently. Emma looked into the woman's eyes, completely baffled and a little hurt.

"As enticing an idea as  _that_ is," Regina dragged her thumb across Emma's cheek, "we've both had a bit too much excitement just now. Besides which, Henry is going to be here any minute."

Emma sighed in defeat.

"You're right." Emma rolled back a little to give Regina space. "Why do you always have to be right? I kind of hate it." Emma's smirk said she didn't really hate it at all.

"One of us has to be, darling." The word slipped out of Regina's mouth before she had a chance to consider it and when it did, her expression was the picture of shock.

Emma raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer.

"Darling, huh? I like the sound of that," Emma closed the distance between them and claimed Regina's lips again, still convinced she might at least be able to get a make out session before their son arrived.

The doorbell rang and Regina chuckled against Emma's mouth, planting one last peck before rising from the bed. Emma moved to get up too but stumbled on her feet and fell back to the mattress.

"Man, that magic sure packs a punch." Emma winced a little. Every muscle was sore and she could feel a headache thrumming in the back of her head.

Regina went to her side and lifted the woman's legs back into bed.

" _You_ are going to lie here and try to rest while I entertain Henry."

"But–"

"But nothing. You need to relax. What you just did expended a lot of your energy. And I will  _not_ take no for an answer." Regina said firmly. The doorbell rang again downstairs, accompanied by frantic, little-boy knocking.

"I seemed to have enough energy to pull you into bed a minute ago," Emma said precociously. She punctuated this with an absurdly large yawn. Regina laughed.

"Damnit, my own body is betraying me." Emma muttered, turning over in the bed and shuffling further under the covers.

"Get some rest. Please." Regina said as she went to the door.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll try," Emma said, her voice muffled by the covers.

Regina took a last lingering look at the form beneath the blankets, the blonde waves peeking out at the top. She smiled and shook her head, still grappling with the reality that the Saviour, Snow's daughter, the one who broke the curse, had saved her life more than once and was now falling asleep in her bed.

* * *

When Regina finally opened the front door, Henry burst through it in a frenzy.

"Is Emma here?" He asked hurriedly.

"Well hello to you too," Regina said with a smirk. "Yes she is, but she's sleeping right now. She's not to be disturbed."

Henry looked at her as he dropped his backpack on the floor and began to kick off his shoes.

"She's  _sleeping_? It's the middle of the day!" He said.

"She had a very busy morning and not much sleep. So she's in my room for the time being." She chuckled at how dejected the boy looked. "You can wake her later, I promise."

A thought occurred to Henry.

"She's in  _your_ room?" He asked. They had a perfectly good guest room. He couldn't imagine why it wasn't being used by his birth mother.

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?" Regina replied, her hands on her hips.

"No, it's just, you never let anyone sleep in your bed. Not even me." He said. He made his way towards the kitchen and Regina followed, trying to manufacture a response to that bit of observation.

"I guess I'm… turning over a new leaf," Regina said, moving to the fridge to grab a block of cheddar. "I'm sorry, I didn't ask – grilled cheese okay?"

Henry grinned.

"Perfect." He said. He watched her work methodically, retrieving the bread from the drawer, heating the pan on the stove, dropping in the butter, slicing the cheese and placing it and the bread into the pan. Suddenly he felt guilty. And he had an idea why.

"Mom, I need to tell you something." He said, mustering up a little courage.

"Okay, let me just finish up," she flipped the sandwich, cooked it a little more on the other side and then lifted it onto a plate. She turned off the burner and put the pan in the sink, delivering the dish to her waiting son. His face was contorted as he stared down at his lunch, as if he couldn't touch it without it exposing his innermost secrets. The expression reminded her an awful lot of the one Emma wore when she was afraid to say something.

"We can talk after you eat," Regina offered, leaning on the kitchen counter.

Henry shook his head. "No, I– I should just tell you." He took a deep breath. "It's about Operation Cobra."

Regina lifted an eyebrow. Emma had mentioned the name in passing, the title of Henry's plan to thwart her with Emma's help, but her son had never mentioned it to her before. She found it endearing that he wanted to share now.

"Oh?" She said. "What's that?" She rested her chin in her hand.

"It was this… plan to break the curse, to… stop you. I told Emma everything and for a while she just played along." Henry drifted off in thought, unable to fully explain himself. He avoided her eyes. "I just wanted you to know that I never meant to hurt you, not really. I just wanted so badly for everyone to remember who they were. I know you're not evil. I'm just... I'm glad you're okay." Henry's eyes welled with tears, as if he'd felt how close he'd come to losing one, either, or both of his mothers not a half hour before.

"Henry," Regina said softly as she went to his side and wrapped him into a fierce hug. He cried a little, just softly, in her arms, gripping her tightly as she smoothed his hair. She planted a kiss on his head as he soothed and quieted again. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. I will never let anything happen to you." She said.

"Or Emma?" He asked as he pulled back to look up at her.

"Or Emma." Regina said firmly, curling a loose hair behind his ear. "Now eat your sandwich before it's too cold."

He ate voraciously, finally giving into his hunger. Regina watched him in silent admiration. Her son was remarkable. It probably had a lot to do with being of Emma's blood, but she hoped that it also meant that she hadn't become her mother, that she had raised Henry with at least some shred of humanity. Perhaps if she'd been able to raise a boy this decent, she was truly worth redemption after all.

When he finished, she realized she had an admission of her own.

"Henry? I need to ask you something."

"What is it?" He asked as he scrubbed his dish in the sink. He rinsed it and began to dry it with a tea towel before she spoke again.

"I need to ask you if," Regina hesitated, unsure of how to word her next thought. "If you'd be okay with me using magic again. But for good this time."

Henry froze for a moment. He blinked a couple times and frowned. He finished drying the plate and set it down on the counter with the towel.

"I don't know. How can you be sure it will be for good?" He asked, truly curious. "Magic always has a price."

"That's true, but that price can be a positive one, if your intentions are right. If that makes any sense." Regina tried.

"But it's easy to fall back into old habits, that's what Snow told me."

Regina winced a little. Even when she wasn't present, that woman continued to undermine her.

"And she's absolutely right. But this time I'll have help. I'll have someone to keep me from doing anything bad."

"Who?" Henry asked.

Regina smiled a little, wondering how this would come across.

"Emma."

Henry's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

" _Emma_?" He said incredulously.

Regina nodded. "She has magic too. She doesn't know how to use it yet, but it's very strong. And she'll be able to keep me on the right track, I'm sure of it."

"And you'd… you'd  _let_  her?" Henry was smirking now, slowly putting the pieces together for himself.

"Yes. Yes I would." She replied.

Henry's smirk turned into a wide grin.

"Then yeah, I think that would be cool. After all, how else are you going to defeat Cora and Hook?" Henry said brightly. His face opened up in excitement. "Does that mean I have magic too?"

Regina laughed. She walked across to place the clean plate back in the cupboard and the tea towel back on the oven door.

"I think that's probably a safe bet." She said. She turned to him with a serious expression. "But I'm not teaching you until you're older. It's not safe."

Henry rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He said. But he couldn't suppress a smile for long. "Can I wake up Emma yet?"

"It's barely been an hour!" Regina said dramatically. "You are just as impatient as she is. Go into the den and pick out something for us to watch, okay? _Maybe_ when that's over I'll let you wake her. Deal?"

"Deal."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If any part of you loves me, you will leave."

Regina had forgotten when she'd sent Henry into the den for viewing selection that Emma's reading material was still scattered all over the table. So when she finally joined her son in the room, carrying a tray of apple slices and juice for the both of them, it was to find Henry nose-deep in  _The Carvadanian Guide to Magic_. She nearly dropped the tray, silently cursing her poor memory. Instead, she set it down neatly on the table next to a few more of Gold's handbooks.

"Henry." She said firmly, indicating her displeasure. He looked up slowly from the book, guilt written in his features. He pasted on a cheesy, you-have-to-forgive-me smile that reminded her so much of Emma's that Regina laughed in spite of herself, bringing a hand up to cover her grin.

Henry broke into an even wider smile at the sound of his mother's laughter. It was good to see her happy, to see her really enjoying something instead of simply tacking on a smile when necessary.

He'd noticed in the past few years – as he'd gained a keener sense of observation – that she was more miserable shouldering the weight of the town than she ever let on. Or perhaps she'd simply never realized just how unhappy she was.

He closed the book and stacked it with the others on the table. No magic until he was older, she'd said. And he had no intention of disobeying her, as much as he itched to test the theory.

He made room on the couch for her to sit beside him.

"I take it that means you haven't picked what we're going to watch." Regina said as she sank into place.

"Well… no." He admitted.

"Perfect," she said, picking up the TV remote and crossing her legs. "Antiques Roadshow, it is."

Henry groaned so dramatically that Regina thought Emma might have heard it upstairs.

* * *

Emma roused from sleep in the early evening. She tried to blink the drowsiness from her eyes as her hand groped for her phone, which should have been on her nightstand.

Problem was, her nightstand wasn't there, because this wasn't her bed, and she misjudged the distance she could reach before losing her centre of gravity.

She had a moment to think, " _Oh, shit_ ," before she toppled sideways off the mattress, falling with a deafening thud to the floor. She put her hands out in time to spare her face from entirely planting into the rug. She groaned loudly, letting her limbs fall limp, momentarily refusing to get up before she'd recovered at least half of her senses. She heard the thundering of feet up the stairs.

"Emma, are you okay?!" Henry said frantically, bursting through the door and rushing to her side.

"Yeah, kid. Just thought I'd check out the scenery." She turned her head to look at him, her cheek squished against the carpet. He sighed in relief and shook his head. Often, it was hard to tell which of them was the child and which the parent.

"Funny. I could have sworn that isn't where I left you," Regina teased from the doorway. Emma tried to crane her neck to glare at the brunette, but she couldn't quite bend that far from her position. She finally put her hands out and pushed herself off of the carpet, purposely making a show of it so the other woman would have an eyeful.

"Nope, it's not. But you know how I like to try new things. Your bed's too soft anyway." Emma said as she turned around. She became aware of Henry assessing them both very carefully, his eyes squinting. "What are you looking at me like that for?" Emma said to him, breaking his focus.

"No reason! Come on, Emma." He grabbed her hand and began dragging her out of the door and towards the stairs. "We're watching The Avengers!"

"Again," Regina added, following close behind. Emma grinned at the woman over her shoulder, trying to add a seductive wink, but Henry was bringing her down the first few steps before she had time to acclimatize and she nearly fell headlong down the length of them. She caught herself on the railing just in time.

"Jesus, are you trying to kill me?" Emma said.

"You're slow!" Henry replied.

"It would probably help if you kept your eyes  _forward_ , Miss Swan," Regina said through a satisfied smirk.

They reconvened on the loveseat in front of the television. It was entirely too small for the three of them, but with a couple of the throw pillows tossed to the floor, they managed to fit in cozily. Henry sat in the middle of his two mothers, curling his knees up in front of his chest. Emma sat on his right and Regina on his left.

Emma casually stretched her arm across the back of the sofa, reaching her fingers to caress Regina's neck, winding in her hair. It elicited a little shiver from Regina, but also an eye roll at the oldest move in the book.

She shot Emma a glare and the blonde drew her arm back, ruffling Henry's hair on the return trip. She understood Regina's reluctance – neither of them were quite prepared to answer any questions Henry might ask if he caught them. It was one thing to notify one's adult mother, it was another to inform the son they technically shared.

Henry spent the rest of the movie partly interested by the action unfolding onscreen, but also entirely entertained by the combined effect of Regina's scoffing at various plot points and Emma's borderline-crass commentary. He beamed at the two of them, delighted to be able to spend time in the company of both.

The three of them shared both the work and the rewards of making dinner – steak, broccoli, and baked potatoes – and followed up dish-washing with a few excessively competitive games of go-fish. Henry and Regina were both practised professionals. Meaning, Emma didn't win one round.

"Shit!" Emma handed her nine over to Regina as the woman laid down the last of her cards.

"Language, Miss Swan." Regina warned.

"Sorry. But how do we play five games and I don't win  _any_ of them?" Emma dropped her forehead on her folded arms atop the table.

"I think losing rather becomes you." Regina teased.

Emma turned her head up and tried to pout but as soon as she caught sight of the matching smiles of her son and the former-queen, her own expression turned into a smile too.

She threw hands up in defeat. "Fine! I suck at cards. Are you happy?"

"Very." Regina said, unable to stop grinning like a fool.

At 7:30 sharp, a hard knock came at the front door.

"I'll get it," Emma said. "Henry, you better go grab your stuff."

"Why can't I just stay overnight?" Henry asked looking between the two women.

Regina looked at the floor.

"Because your grandparents wanna see you tonight. And most of your stuff is there right now." Emma knew it was a lame excuse as soon as it was out of her mouth, but she was floundering.

"But I brought a change of clothes and everything else I need to stay." Henry tried.

"Henry," Regina said softly. He turned to look at her. Emma left to answer the door. "Emma and I need to figure some things out and right now I need you to go with Snow. Okay?"

"But I can help!" He hated this, hated being left out.

"This  _is_  helping." Regina said seriously, looking her son in the eye. They stood quietly for a moment, catching wafts of Emma and Snow's conversation at the front door.

"Okay." Henry said finally.

"Thank you." She replied. He turned to leave the room, then turned back.

"Mom? I really like having Emma  _and_ you around." There was something in his smirk and lift of an eyebrow that told her he might just be onto them.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Regina said, leaning down and lowering her voice conspiratorially. "I really like it too."

She followed him out of the kitchen and he shouldered his backpack in the foyer, putting on a smile for all three women.

Snow was standing rigidly in Regina's doorway, her teeth clamped together. She was desperately avoiding Regina's eyes. Emma stood halfway between them, a bit afraid of what either would say.

"Thank you, Snow." Regina said. "I know this situation is… difficult."

Emma wasn't sure which situation Regina meant – the one where Henry was caught in an uneasy tug-of-war or the one where Regina was "seeing" her enemy's daughter – but both Snow and Emma wore matching expressions of surprise.

Snow, of course,  _also_ did not know which situation was being discussed.

"It's… all right. We'll bring him back tomorrow night after supper."

Regina nodded to Snow and then looked to Henry.

"Does that sound okay to you?" She asked him. He nodded, then stepped forward and wrapped her into a hug that she gladly returned.

Just quietly enough for her to hear, he murmured, "I love you."

"I love you too." She said, then let him go. He followed Snow out the door, turning back to wave to Emma and Regina. His mothers were standing in the doorway. Very close to each other.

Snow didn't turn to look back. It was bad enough that when she sat in the driver's seat of the car, she saw her daughter side-by-side with the woman who had put them all here, who had separated her family in the first place. Regina could pretend for Emma all she wanted, but Snow couldn't shake the feeling that her daughter was in far greater danger than she could ever imagine.

* * *

As soon as the front door was closed, Emma took Regina in her arms, holding her close and sighing into the woman's shoulder.

"I've wanted to do that all day."

"You mean the part of the day you weren't sleeping?" Regina said.

Emma moved her hand down and poked Regina softly in the side, eliciting a surprised squeal from the brunette, who immediately stepped back from Emma's arms, putting her own arms up defensively.

For a second, and against her common sense, Emma expected to be flung against the door by Regina's invisible hand of fury. She hated that her instincts made her flinch.

Instead, Regina wore a broad grin and maintained her defensive stance, her eyes fixed on Emma's hands. She finally lifted her eyes to Emma's, noticing how closely and seriously she was being studied.

Regina's smile faltered a little.

"What is it?" She said.

_I love you._  Emma gulped.

It was too soon. Far, far too soon to be even  _thinking_  anything remotely that intense.

Emma's lips slid into a blinding smile and she launched an attack, exploiting Regina's confusion and prodding the woman's ticklish sides mercilessly. Regina tried her best to dodge and deflect, crying out "Stop!" here and there in hopes she could end the assault, but her and Emma's efforts combined soon brought them tumbling to the ground, Emma landing half on top of Regina with a groan. Regina recovered quickly, putting herself up and over the other woman's body, straddling the blonde's legs to hold her still. She pinned Emma's arms to the ground to cease the struggle. They both looked at each other, breathing heavily, grinning stupidly.

Regina caught her breath enough and leaned down to claim Emma's mouth.

Regina sucked Emma's bottom lip between hers, her teeth nipping for good measure. Emma opened her mouth a little, extending a welcome to Regina's tongue. Regina accepted the invitation, whirling her tongue into the eager mouth to plunder its wealth. Emma tried to lift her restrained arms, wanting desperately to touch the woman above her, but Regina maintained her grip as steadily as she controlled Emma's mouth.

When she finally pulled her head back, she smiled victoriously.

"Are you ready?" She asked breathily.

"What did you have in mind?" Emma said, quirking an eyebrow.

"It's time to study some more." Regina said. She hopped off of the other woman's body in a casual, graceful effort. Emma groaned.

"You said  _you_  were the impatient one," Emma whined.

"Uh huh," Regina said as she disappeared upstairs.

"So why am  _I_  always left high and dry? What the hell, woman?" Emma called up the stairs. The brunette reappeared from her bedroom with her stack of books underarm.

Regina returned to Emma's side, smirking at the woman's childish pout.

"I find desire can be a good motivator." Regina said before planting a chaste kiss on Emma's lips and then making her way to the den. Emma huffed then followed, wondering just how it was that she could be blue-balled without any balls.

They began with a series of simple healing spells. Regina first gave herself cuts and bruises all over the skin of her right arm (much to Emma's initial displeasure). Then she presented her arm to Emma for mending. She watched proudly as Emma took to the concepts easily, lightly drawing her hand over Regina's arm in careful concentration, her eyes shut tight.

"Are you supposed to get goosebumps?" Emma asked, opening one eye to verify Regina's approval. Regina's cheeks were pink.

"No, that's only for you, dear." Regina admitted, eliciting a broad grin from Emma as she continued her work.

In addition to healing, Regina trained Emma in a few more of the basics: protective wards, glamours (various illusions to trick the eye), transportation, and duplication. Emma was particularly enticed by the last, though it proved to be the most difficult of the bunch. When she finally managed to create a duplicate of a decanter of cider, she delighted in her success.

"So I can make another of  _anything_?" Emma said.

"Within reason," Regina replied.

"Could I make another  _you_?" Emma said with a suggestive smile, leaning across the coffee table between them and running her fingers over Regina's wrist.

Regina was aware that she had been the one to bring  _desire_  into their lessons, to suggest that it even belonged there. But she'd quickly remembered the reason that they were doing all of this in the first place: to keep each other – to keep everyone – safe from Cora's destructive tendencies. This realization of the work's seriousness made Emma's constant distractions and urges increasingly frustrating.

This latest touch brought Regina to a breaking point and she gave into sudden anger, brought on by Emma's inability to focus.

"EMMA, STOP!" Her voice was abrasive in the quiet room as the skin of both her hands lit suddenly with bright blue flames. Emma grabbed her own hand back quickly, but not soon enough. She held her damaged palm in the cradle of her other hand, staring at the angry, red welt rising across it.

Regina's temper was extinguished instantly by the sight of the burn, the result of her legendary fury. The brunette burst into tears, rushing out of the room to hide from Emma's scorn. The blonde followed close behind, stepping cautiously into the dark kitchen; it was lit only by moonlight coming in through the windows. She came up slowly behind Regina, who was gripping the edge of the sink in both of her shaking hands.

"Stay away from me." Regina's voice was ragged.

"Regina, it's okay!" Emma said. "Look." She held her injured hand within Regina's periphery and drew her other hand across it, the way she'd done to the other woman's arm earlier. In the same way as the cuts, the burn ebbed away under her fingers, leaving her skin unmarred. She smiled at her handiwork and at her teacher. "Good as new." Emma tried to lean over the sink to catch Regina's distant gaze.

"That's not the point." Regina said.

"I'm sorry for getting carried away again, you know how bad my A.D.D. is." Emma said lightly.

"That is  _also_  not the point, Miss Swan. That you keep missing it is no surprise to me."

_We're back to that again?_ Emma thought dimly. She sighed.

"Then what  _is_  the point?" Emma tried not to let her frustration edge into her tone.

"That this is what I am, what I will  _always_ be, and the both of us were fools to think otherwise." Regina stated flatly. "I cannot change what I am."

Emma couldn't take it anymore. She reached for Regina's cheeks roughly, bringing the woman's face to confront her. Regina tried to resist, but was dragged along anyway. She screwed her eyes shut, refusing to look at the blonde.

"You already  _have_  changed. What you're feeling now – regret, guilt – from what I hear, the old Regina wouldn't have given two shits if she had hurt someone. Or she wouldn't have shown it, anyway. But you  _care_. I know you do. So  _what_  if you got pissed off for a moment? Do you realize how much of an improvement that is?" Emma said. When Regina still didn't move, open her eyes, or answer, Emma added, "Besides, it hurt a  _lot_ more when you hit me in the face."

Regina let out a breathy laugh. She raised her hands to hold Emma's more firmly against her cheeks and she finally opened her eyes. Even in the dark, Emma's green eyes glinted a bit gold.

_I love you._  Regina took a steadying breath. It was too soon to merely  _think_  such a thing, never mind admit it.

"You're too good for me." Regina said quietly.

Emma shook her head.

She pulled Regina closer and pressed their foreheads together. "You are so much better than you think you are."

Soon after, Regina and Emma went upstairs, exhausted from their respective teaching and learning. Regina left Emma to strip and settle in. She felt something rich and warm stirring in her stomach at the thought of the blonde in her bed yet again. At the thought of  _sharing_ the bed.

Regina stood in her bathroom, slipping into her grey, silk (very short) nightgown. She could barely contain her nerves as she brushed her teeth, fluffed her hair, and bit her lips to give them a bit more colour. She swallowed hard, feeling more nervous than she had when she'd been preparing for their date.

Emma no doubt deserved a reward after her display of support in the kitchen, and Regina had been putting off going any further with the woman long enough. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and opened the bathroom door, setting herself seductively against the frame, jutting out a hip.

Emma was already in bed, her arm hanging over the edge, her mouth hanging open. Dead to the world. Regina's head slumped forward in defeat. She flicked off the bathroom light and noticed a small shadow against the bedroom window. Her brow furled.

As she got closer, she noticed a large raven sitting on the window ledge, quirking its head every which way. She knocked against the window pane and the bird went squawking and flapping away from the house. She watched it disappear into the distance.

"Well, hello there," Emma drawled from the bed, waking to find Regina standing at the window in her dangerously short nightie.

"I thought there already was a 'Sleepy' in town," Regina said, grinning at the drowsy blonde.

"And I didn't even  _know_  there was a ' _Snarky_.'" Emma mumbled.

Even in the dark she could tell Regina was raising an eyebrow.

"I know. Not my strongest comeback. I'm tired!" Emma whined. Regina chuckled as she climbed over Emma and slid under the covers.

"I'll forgive your narcolepsy for tonight." Regina said, trying to mask the weariness in her own voice. "But I expect you to deliver the goods soon, Ms. Swan."

"The goods? Jesus, Regina. I really am rubbing off on you, aren't I?" Emma said.

Regina opened her mouth and then closed it again.

"You must be. Since I almost took  _that_  as a filthy double entendre." Regina said. Emma's laughter was cut off short as Regina moved closer, pressing her chest into Emma's back. Emma sighed contentedly as Regina slung an arm around her waist. She drifted off to sleep then, soothed by the soft breathing of the woman she was quickly falling in love with.

* * *

At about the same time that the two women drifted off to sleep, a large raven flew over town and into the harbour, disappearing into thin air next to an abandoned dock.

The raven settled onto the wood planks of a ship no outsider could see, squawking to announce his arrival.

A door opened near the bow and the Queen of Hearts stepped out into the night air, dressed not in red, but in a deep and glorious green gown. Her hair was perfectly set. Her red lips were curled into a knowing grin. Cora waved her hand in the direction of the raven on deck, watching delightedly as it transformed back into the tall, dark, handsome form of Captain Hook.

The man shook himself off, as if trying to ruffle the remains of the day from his wings. When he was done this ritual, he opened his eyes and took in the sight of his queen. He crossed the distance between the two and pulled the woman roughly to his own body. His eyes skipped over her features before settling on her lips, quickly moving to claim her mouth in hunger.

She indulged him for a few moments, and when he tried to slip his tongue in, she bit his lip and pushed him forcefully. He stumbled back a few steps, his hand flying to his mouth to catch blood. He scowled.

"What was that for?"

"For taking more than you're due. Especially when you've given me no news yet." Cora said, folding her arms underneath her chest, aware of the effect it had on the man. "Did you even do as I asked?"

His eyes flicked predictably downwards for a moment.

"Yes, in fact, I did. I spent my entire night flying around the windows of Regina's house, trying to monitor anything at all. I'm beginning to think a bird was not the best guise for surveillance." Hook said bitterly, still dabbing at his battered lip.

Cora took a couple steps closer, putting herself right in front of him.

"And just what did you see, little bird?"

Hook grinned at this. It had taken all evening, but he'd finally ferretted out something he thought his queen would find very interesting. Not to mention what he'd saw had made him more than a little eager to spend his arousal. He hoped Cora would be particularly grateful.

"Well you'll be interested to know that the  _Saviour_ is staying there this night. And I'd guess this won't be her last."

Cora's brow wrinkled; her shoulders sank. "Snow's daughter? What do you mean?"

"She shares  _your_  daughter's bed. In what seems a very...  _intimate_  arrangement." Hook said through a sly smile.

Cora's eyebrows shot up towards her hairline.

"Is that so?"

_Well that_ _ **is**_ _interesting_. Cora thought. She began to pace the deck. Hook watched her impatiently, wondering just when he would get his due reward.

"Your majesty, may I ask what you're thinking?" He said when he could endure her silence no longer.

"No." Cora said, barely registering the man's voice.

If Regina was making nice with Snow's daughter - more than nice, if Hook was right - it could be assumed she was trying to make amends. That was useful information to have. It would change her own methods rather drastically.

Cora had expected to arrive in Storybrooke to find her daughter abused and cast-out, a willing game piece for Cora to guide along as she saw fit. She could have led the foolish woman into whichever pit she laid out, so long as it was filled with the proper punishment. This new situation would take a slightly different approach.

Wonderland had been hell when she'd first been cast through the mirror by her own ungrateful daughter. Cora had had no sense of up or down, true or false, sane or insane. The entire realm was nonsense, filled to the brim. But over time and tea with various residents, she'd raised her status, as her political prowess fell back into its stride. She'd made sense of the nonsense, or rather it had slowly begun to make a kind of sense to her.

The seduction of the King of Hearts had been no easy task either. The first difficulty had been to meet him at all since he lived high in his castle, secluded from the rest of the land, horrified by anything and everything he ruled.

She'd drawn out her courtship over the years, knowing she had all of the time to spare doing so. And when she'd finally entered his bed, it was easy to secure her throne, belittling him enough for her to take full reign of Wonderland. She'd even begun to take pleasure in taking the heads of her sorry victims instead of just their hearts.

When Hook came to her court to kill her, she stopped him with the ease of swatting a fly and took her opportunity gladly.

During all of her time in exile and feigned death, Cora had thought almost exclusively of her treacherous daughter.

With the instigator of her disappointment, banishment, and attempted assassination within reach, Cora had to proceed carefully.

* * *

Belle's birthday was fast approaching. Gold smiled as he worked at his desk in the back of his shop, delicately wrapping his gifts for her, taking great pains to make everything perfect. He'd done so much to disappoint her lately, he could only hope the gestures he was planning would make the right impression. He could only hope that she would forgive his mistakes and help make him a better man. Again.

It was during the wrapping of the third of her gifts – an ornately engraved leather notebook in which Belle could write her _own_  story – that Gold sensed he was no longer alone in his private quarters.

"Rumplestiltskin," Cora's voice curled around Gold like a vine, stopping his breath and stiffening his form. "Hook calls you crocodile, but you don't look quite so _scaly_  in this world." She drew close behind him as she spoke and when she came within a breath's distance, she dragged her index finger across his shoulder blades. He fairly cringed at her caress.

"What do you want?" He said, his blood hot. She wasn't supposed to be here, not yet. She had the advantage right now – he couldn't make a move she couldn't counter.

Cora only laughed.

"Oh, my little imp, it isn't about what  _I_ want. It's about what  _you_  want." She said close to his ear.

"And what is that?" He said carefully, still afraid to move.

"Well," she began pacing around the store. "I'm sure there are any number of things – your true love, your son," she paused and grinned at him, "your happy ending." She continued her pacing. "But before you can have any of those, you need one thing above them all."

She paused for effect, for Gold to prompt her onward. He said nothing, only turned to watch her.

"Hook. Dead." She said with a smile. "Preferably at your hands, I'd wager, but in any case, disappeared from your life and any… family life you wish to have."

"Forgive me, but are you not in some kind of alliance with him?" Gold asked.

"I used him to get here, if that's what you mean. The man's good as a means, as a vessel. Nothing more." She continued to smile and smile, as if she could will Gold to share in her enthusiasm for the conversation.

"And what exactly are you proposing?"

"That in exchange for helping  _you_  bring about Hook's demise, you help  _me_ dismantle Regina's life."

"You mean, kill her." Gold said.

"I mean what I  _said_. If she dies as the end result, so be it. But she must suffer first." She spoke so casually, Gold barely thought she meant it.

He hesitated for a second, his mind whirling.

"Don't you think she's suffered enough?" His own eyes went wide as he realized he'd spoken the words aloud. He wasn't  _really_  showing sympathy towards the woman who'd locked Belle away from him for 28 years.  _Was_  he?

"No. I don't." She said, her face suddenly solemn. "And without me, you'll never find Hook. Until his blade is so deep in your chest you'll be begging to die. Not to mention that given what you did to his love, I can't even imagine what he'll do to  _yours_." Her smile returned when she mentioned Belle.

Gold stared at her. Stone-faced.

"Fine." He said.

"Swear on your pretty love's life?" Cora asked brightly.

"Yes." He said.

"Good. For now I need you to carry on as if I'm not in town yet. Help Regina with whatever fool measures she intends to take. I'll be checking in soon and I expect an update." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Gold said. "When do I get Hook?"

"In good time." Cora said, then disappeared in a thick, black cloud.

* * *

Regina was sitting cross-legged on an ornate, red rug in front of her fireplace. Her eyes were closed, her breathing even and slow. Emma had gone home in the morning, kissing her softly goodbye and promising to return after supper with their son in tow.

For now, Regina used the solitude to meditate.

She focused on a feeling, one that began in the base of her spine and climbed up vertebra by vertebra, winding around the stalk of her body like an eager vine.

That vine, that feeling, embodied a part of her she wanted to grow. The part of her, if it really did exist, that was pure.

If she hoped to reverse control and be able to suppress her violent emotions rather than let them overwhelm her, she knew she would have to nurture that purity.

She imagined a garden extending all around her, roots and vines shooting up all over, sprouting massive leaves and brightly blooming flora. She imagined that out of the fireplace, a single flower would grow. A smooth white orchid, bent towards her in offering.

Regina opened her eyes and smiled at the room around her.

Just as she had envisioned, it had filled with brush and bloom, plants streaming out of the floor, the walls, the furniture. And from the flames that were flickering in the hearth, a single white orchid extended towards her, unmarred by the heat, unsinged and pure.

She reached out her hand to touch it, ever-so-lightly, grazing her fingers across its petals.

"You always did have a green thumb."

Regina's smile fell. The flower wilted under her fingers. The greenery surrounding her browned and curled up, shrinking and crumbling as it went.

Regina moved slowly, cautiously, to her feet, desperately trying to hold on to the last vestiges of light inside her, anything that could help her maintain peace.

She turned from the fireplace towards the source of the interruption. She raised her chin slightly and levelled her eyes with Cora's.

"Regina," Cora breathed. She swallowed hard and took in the sight of her daughter. "It is good to see you."

"Is it?" Regina said dully.

Cora nodded.

"Are you here for your revenge?" Regina asked.

Cora's face fell into a twist of sadness and hurt.

"No, of course not." Cora took a step towards her daughter. Regina stepped back and Cora halted. "I understand why you did what you did, Regina. I was never a good mother. I hurt you in ways I can never hope to be forgiven for. But... you said you loved me."

Regina's eyes flickered in realization, knowing now that her mother had heard her as she spoke over the coffin.

"And I love you too." Cora said. Her eyes welled, threatening to spill over. "All I want is to see you happy. To reverse some of the damage I've done."

"The damage you've done is the kind that can't be reversed." Regina said.

"You're right," Cora agreed. "But I'd at least like to do something  _for_  you, rather than  _to_ you. For once."

"And just how do you intend to do that?" Regina said, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Rumplestiltskin. As long as he lives, he is a threat to you and to those you love."

"What would  _you_ know about those I love." Regina said with a laugh. "You should know better than anyone there is no such person left."

"Snow's daughter mentioned that I have a grandson. Henry." Cora said, her eyes warm, her smile soft.

Regina's eyes widened. Her throat shrank.

"He's none of your business."

"His safety and yours are absolutely my business. We need to put an end to Rumple's control. Regina, he practically owns you, and it's my fault. But we can stop him if we work together."

Regina wanted to run or disappear, but she stayed stock-still.

"I will not be doing  _anything_  with you. Under any circumstances."

"I don't expect you to forgive me. But at least let me help you; let me help you finally get the happiness you deserve!" Cora said desperately. The tears were springing from her eyes now. Her hands gripped the folds of her gown. Her voice shook lightly.

Regina searched her mother's eyes, seeking out some flicker of hope, of anything.

"If any part of you loves me, you will leave. I don't care where you go, so long as you stay away from me and from my son." Regina said.

All softness fell out of Cora's face. Her hands released her dress. She assessed the wrinkles she'd made in the fabric and smoothed them. She turned her dry eyes back up towards Regina's and smiled.

" _Emma's_  son, you mean." Cora corrected.

_Our son_. Regina thought. But she kept quiet.

"Because we all know  _you're_  as barren as the wastes, don't we, dear?" Cora said with a maddening grin, no doubt improved by her conversations with the Cheshire Cat.

Regina knew now she should never have sent Hook after her mother. It was a fool's errand.

She should have simply left the woman, banished to Wonderland, doomed to lose her mind like all the rest. Her memories would have faded in time. She might have even forgotten any glimmer of who she once was.

Instead, she'd come back with enough memory, madness, and cruelty to spare.

Regina forced herself not to cry.

"Get out." She hissed.

"Oh! Did I hit a sore spot, my pet? I thought you would have come to terms with that by now. That's all right. Keep pretending you have hope. Keep pretending you have a family. You won't have one for long." With one last wicked grin, Cora conjured her encompassing black cloud and was gone.

Regina finally let herself break, falling to her knees and weeping in the garden of death around her. The orchid had curled all the way back into the fire where it burned, black and twisted.


	5. Chapter 5

Emma picked up her phone as soon as she checked call ID. She was headed to the mansion in a couple of hours with Henry – why was the woman calling now?

"Regina?" Emma left the company of her parents and son to huddle in the furthest corner of the apartment.

On the other end of the line was only silence, then, "Is Henry safe?"

Emma craned her neck to look back into the kitchen. Henry was seated on a stool, mug of hot chocolate in hand, laughing at whatever James had just said. Snow had her arms crossed over her chest, apparently offended by whatever they thought was so funny. They seemed to find her disapproval even more hilarious.

Emma spotted James' sword and Snow's bow and arrows on the kitchen table, at the ready.

"Yeah." Emma said. "Are you?"

"For now." Regina answered curtly.

"What's going on?" Emma asked.

Regina hesitated.

"Cora was here."

"I'm coming over."

"No."

"Yes! Regina, you should  _not_ be alone right now!" Emma struggled to keep her voice down. She didn't want to panic Henry even though she herself was panicking.

Regina went quiet again. She wanted Emma with her. She wanted Henry with her too.

"Stay there, Emma. Keep Henry with you and your parents. He's safer there."

Emma rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes.

"Why don't you just come  _here_ then?" Emma tried.

Snow registered her daughter's absence and spotted the blonde, now crouching, in the corner of the sitting room. Emma's features were twisted in worry; her voice was low and strained. Snow leaned against the wall nearby. Emma looked at her mother with a mixture of terror and heartache.

"I can't." Regina said. She sounded too calm, too complacent. "Wherever I go she'll find me, and I can't take the chance that she'll find Henry. Or you."

"And who the fuck's going to protect you?" Emma spat.

Snow crouched down and took her daughter's free hand, squeezing it tightly.

" _I_ am." Regina replied.

Emma gritted her teeth and hung up the phone angrily. She wrenched her hand from Snow's grasp and wiped roughly at her eyes.

"Emma?" Snow said quietly.

The blonde looked at her mother, suddenly resolute.

"I have to go."

Snow nodded.

Emma rose to her feet and shoved her phone in her pocket. "Get Ruby and Granny, Archie – anyone you can get over here. Henry's at risk and you need all the back-up you can get."

"What happened?" Snow asked, following her to the rack by the door where Emma tore down her red leather coat and threw it on.

"Cora went to Regina. I don't know what she said but I'm guessing it wasn't good."

"She's  _here_? We're not ready!" Snow's face went pale.

James and Henry were at their side now, sharing in Snow's concern.

"Well then we better  _get_  ready. Quick. I'm going to stay with Regina tonight – can you arrange a town meeting? We need to warn people, get them into hiding, get at least a few of them ready to fight or… whatever." Emma could barely focus on how much there was to do. All she could do was picture Regina alone in her massive house, disconsolate and reeling from whatever messed up thing her mother did this time.

"Go, Emma. We'll take care of everything else. I'll let you know when it's arranged." Snow said, giving the woman's shoulder a squeeze.

"Thanks, mom." Emma's eyes went a little wide when she realized what she'd done – called Snow 'mom' without any prompting or sarcasm. Snow beamed in spite of the situation.

The blonde's eyes moved to Henry. She crouched down to meet him at eye level.

"Hey, kid. I have to go check on your mom. I need  _you_  to stay here and protect the apartment."

"Why can't I come with you?" Henry asked. His brow was knitted in worry.

She ran a hand over his hair.

"You can come later, I promise."

"Is she okay?"

"She will be." Emma placed a kiss on his head, like Regina would do if she were there, and left for the mansion.

* * *

Regina was clearing away the last of the dead leaves, the remainders of her ruined garden, when a knock came at the front door. Her heart choked a little, but she could at least be relatively sure it was not her mother again. Cora did not tend to knock.

When she didn't immediately answer it, the knocking became harder, more frantic.

Regina looked through the peephole and sighed at a familiar red coat and frizzy blonde hair. She opened the door and Emma burst through it, throwing her arms around Regina's neck and burying her face in her shoulder.

"Sometimes I wonder why I bother speaking at all, Miss Swan. Seeing as you never listen." Regina said, a flicker of anger in her voice, anger she didn't really feel. It was reassuring to have the woman in her arms. Warm, safe, alive.  _Here._

"You should know better than to tell me  _not_ to do something. It's never worked out for you before." Emma said, her words muffled against Regina's neck. She pushed the door closed with her foot to shut out the cold air.

"I missed you." Regina said quietly.

Emma pulled back to observe the woman. Regina was in sweatpants – something Emma had never witnessed since they'd met – and a grey camisole. The woman's face was clear, resigned to whatever had transpired. Emma brushed her thumb over her cheek.

"I wish I'd been here."

Regina shook her head.

"It was better this way."

"What did she say to you? What does she want?"

Regina paused. She needed to talk. Weeks of venting to Archie had shown her how necessary it was. But she needed to do it properly. She needed to take her time.

"Come with me. I'll make some coffee and update you." Regina said, pulling Emma in the direction of the kitchen.

"Okay. But let  _me_ make the coffee. You make it too strong."

A little while after, Regina sat with her mug gripped in both hands in her sitting room, staring into the dark brew inside. She'd apprised Emma of Cora's offer, of her mock-guilt and vague threats. Now she'd come to the part she was dreading most. And the part she needed most to say.

"Regina?" Emma said, trying to lure the woman's fixated gaze from the coffee cup.

Regina looked up into the woman's bright green eyes. "Mmm?"

"You kinda trailed off there," Emma said.

They were seated on opposite sides of the coffee table. But for this, Regina knew she wanted the woman to be closer.

"Sit next to me," the brunette said softly. Emma took up the place on the couch beside her, setting her cup on the table. Regina set hers down too, taking a fortifying breath.

"Have you ever wondered why I adopted?" She started.

Emma shook her head.

"I guess I just figured it was… fate, or something." Emma said with a smile. Regina swallowed hard and Emma knew it was the wrong thing to say. She shut her mouth and waited for Regina to continue.

"When I first married the king, he wanted an heir. A son. But after many… attempts," Regina shut her eyes for a second, as if trying to blot out the memories that leapt into her mind, "It became apparent that I was unable to bear a child." Regina laughed darkly, as if the whole thing were some sort of cosmic joke. "He hated me. As did my mother. But not nearly so much as I hated myself."

There were too many things Regina wanted to say to Emma. Everything that she'd been thinking about in the last few days, and especially in the last hour, begged to be shared: how badly she'd needed someone to wake her up from her lies; how good it felt to have Emma bring change back into her tired, stagnant world; how much it meant to have someone care for her without expectations or some hidden agenda.

But none of it would come. It was too much and too soon and it was impossible to find words that would fill the need. She hoped Emma would understand such things the way she seemed to do already, without any words at all. She shook her head free of the excess.

"After the curse, eventually I realized how lonely I was." Regina added. "So I enlisted Gold. And he brought me your son." Regina met Emma's eyes. It wasn't enough of an explanation. But it would do for the time being. "I don't expect you to really forgive me for the things I've done – before and since coming to this world – and you've already done so much–"

Regina's words were stopped by Emma's lips. They moved against hers in a gentle, careful motion. Regina put her hand to the woman's cheek. Her whole body instantly warmed. She marveled at how the woman could say so much with just a kiss. It made her words seem frail.

Emma drew back slightly. She hated the things that had happened to Regina. She hated some of the things the woman had  _done_ , too. But what really mattered was what the woman was doing now, doing  _here._

"Thank you for loving our son." Emma said. It wasn't enough and it was, all at once. Regina nodded and smiled. She dropped her hand from Emma's cheek.

"What did you tell Snow?" She asked, keen to turn the subject to something that wouldn't make her cry again. Enough had been said for now.

"To organize a town meeting. We're going to have to decide on somewhere for people to go to wait it out. Whatever  _it_  ends up being."

"I have a place in mind." Regina said.

Emma's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to find a message from Snow.

"The meeting's first thing tomorrow morning. That's not too late, is it?"

"No. Besides, we have things to do tonight that can't wait."

"Such as?" Emma quirked an eyebrow.

Regina pressed her lips together, considering. "Rumple will no doubt be involved. I have to go see him."

"Why? I thought you said Cora wanted him gone." Emma wondered aloud.

"What she says and what she  _wants_ are two very different things. If I know her, she's made an offer to  _him_  as well. I need to know where he stands. Besides which, he has more power over me than I care to admit."

Emma became uneasy. She did  _not_  like the sound of that.

"What  _kind_  of power?" She said slowly.

"A…  _manipulative_ kind. He only ever exerted it here and there, but I'm pretty sure he never used it to its full capacity. Mother – Cora – will no doubt want to make use of that."

Gold hadn't been able to use his "please" trick of control since the curse broke. But that was no consolation. He hadn't  _needed_  it when his magic was finally returned to him. She wondered at why he hadn't used it yet. She'd never known the details, but she knew that Cora had made some kind of arrangement with the man before Regina was born. The rest was never divulged to her.

If Cora could turn him to her favour, circumstances would not bode well.

"So we go see Gold. Right away." Emma nodded. "What else?"

"I need to teach you a few more spells soon, to defend yourself and others. And then," Regina thought hard. She hadn't had to do this much planning since she'd been mayor. "We need a strategy for the town meeting. People aren't going to go quietly where I intend to house them. And they aren't going to trust _me_  for the obvious reasons."

"They will when we back you." Emma said.

"You can't be sure of that. Anyway, first things first." Regina stood and steeled herself.

"Off to see the wizard." Emma muttered as she followed Regina to the front door.

* * *

"So what's the plan, here?" Emma tailed Regina from the Mercedes, stopping when they got to the locked front door of Gold's shop. She'd never seen it look so ominous, but she supposed it could just be the tone of their current visit.

"I talk. You look menacing." Regina turned back to the blonde and grinned. Emma folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes, trying to capture some of Regina's air of intimidation. She looked like a child throwing a mild tantrum.

Regina laughed. "I guess that will have to do, dear." She schooled her face into a serious expression and knocked hard against the shop door.

"Oh, little pigs…" Emma muttered under her breath. Regina rolled her eyes.

Gold sauntered up to the door, unlocked it, and opened it wide, offering them space to enter. Regina was surprised by his willingness to let them in but even more so by the look of utter relief that had washed over his features.

"And to what do I owe this extraordinary pleasure?" Gold shut the door behind them.

"Had any other visitors of note today, Gold?" Regina asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. But I guess you knew that already." He stopped to look at Emma and raised his eyebrows. "Sleeping with the enemy, Miss Swan? I didn't know you were the kind."

Emma blushed a little at the insinuation. "Regina isn't the enemy." She managed.

Gold turned his attention back to the brunette.

"Perhaps not.  _You_  had a nice little reunion with your mother as well, then?" Gold crossed the room to the centre counter and picked up a silver candelabra and cloth, polishing the metal to a blinding shine.

"Well I wouldn't describe it as 'nice.'" Regina said. She followed and stood across the counter from him.

"Was she there to plant some cozy threats?"

"Offers, first. To unite against you, in fact. And I'll bet she offered the same deal to  _you_." Regina studied him intently – his gait, his face, his behaviour.

"She didn't cast an enchantment on me, Regina. So you can stop looking for one. But yes, she  _did_  ask me to ally against you. In return she offered to hand-deliver me Hook."

Regina paused, a bit surprised at how candid Gold was being. She looked to Emma for confirmation of his honesty. The blonde gave a little nod.

"The question is," Gold resumed. "Why would she go to  _both_  of us? Seems a little excessive, don't you think?" He paused and set the candelabra down beside a short, wooden clock.

"Because that's what she does," Regina said with a cold smile. "She plays every side. If one side wins, she wins. If both lose… she still wins."

"And what if both sides  _win_?" Emma spoke up behind her.

Regina turned her head to put the other woman in her periphery. "There hasn't been a precedent for  _that_ scenario."

"Well then, we have our work cut out for us." Gold said.

"So you plan to honour our alliance?" Regina turned her attention back him. "I have to say, I find it hard to believe you turned my mother down."

"That's probably because I  _didn't_  turn her down." He tapped absently on the counter. "We both know Cora does not make threats she doesn't intend to act on. And if I am going to protect the ones I care about, I need to keep her appeased. At least until we have a plan to dispatch her."

"Or you could show some goddamned backbone…" Emma muttered.

"Sheriff. Manners." Regina said. "Besides, this might work in our favour."

"My thoughts exactly." Gold grinned. "If Cora thinks she's got me in-pocket, that can only bode well for whatever plan  _you're_  cooking up. So long as you still trust me."

"Who said I trusted you, Gold? I'm simply choosing to overlook the past. For now."

He shrugged and moved towards his workroom.

"In either case, if you'll both follow me, I've been working on a little… pet project of sorts. For our 'Saviour' here." He disappeared into the back of the store.

Regina and Emma exchanged a look of mild confusion before following his path. The workroom was a tinker's fantasy. Every kind of odd and end imaginable was slung over the walls, scattered over ever surface, and stashed in every drawer, cupboard, and shelf.

His workbench held a small set of alchemic instruments and a series of flasks, each filled with a substance of a different colour, texture, and quality than the last.

But the item that drew Emma's attention was set beside these mixtures. Her eyes lit at once with recognition.

"When I found it, it'd lost most of its power. Since Regina stopped by, I've been working on restoring it. May never be what it once was, but I think it will work just fine for our White Knight." Gold had no doubt that the long sword on the table was the centre of attention to both women. "Why don't you pick it up, Emma? Feel the weight of it."

Emma looked to Regina for confirmation and was met with the woman's wide smile.

The blonde took a hesitant step forward and ran her fingers over the script engraved on the blade. It was in a language she didn't recognize.

"It says, 'rebirth and light,' in a very, very old tongue." Gold said, as if reading her mind.

"Seems appropriate," Regina said softly, in awe that Excalibur still existed at all, never mind that it was here in Storybrooke. And that it seemed meant for Emma. The blonde lifted the blade from the table and gripped the hilt in both hands.

Ever since she'd been deemed "The Saviour" all Emma had felt was discomfort. She wasn't a fairytale character. She didn't share in the fantastical stories from that other world. She was an orphaned kid that skipped town and had kept running all her life. She was no princess, no matter what anyone tried to tell her.

But something about holding the sword – the one that even  _she'd_ heard about at some point in her aimless childhood – made her feel powerful. It felt right. It was something like the way she felt with Regina and Henry. Like she belonged.

She felt Regina's hand on the small of her back and shivered.

"It suits you." The brunette's voice curled in low around her ear as if it was her tongue instead.

"She's absolutely right," Gold added, breaking Emma's focus from the woman at her back. "And it will be yours to keep just as soon as I've made a few minor adjustments."

Emma set the blade back down on the tabletop. She was reluctant to let it go, but just as she'd sensed it belonged with her, she also sensed it was incomplete.

"When will it be ready?" Emma asked hurriedly.

"I should be done by morning." Gold replied with a small smile.

"Good. You can bring it to the meeting tomorrow at the town hall. Nine o'clock." Regina said.

"Well then, I suppose I'll see you in the morning, Sherriff." He nodded to Emma then turned to Regina and bowed. "Your majesty."

Regina laughed.

"Oh please, if I'm not allowed to use  _your_ old name, you are not allowed to address me by some outdated title."

"Well you're not a majesty, you're not a mayor, just who  _are_  you these days?" Gold asked with a side smile.

Regina caught Emma's eye and smiled. "I'm the woman who's going to  _win_."

* * *

"Do we trust him?" Emma didn't get her focus back until they'd exited Gold's shop. She was still feeling the glow of the sword in her hand. She already itched to carry it again.

"You tell  _me_ , Emma.  _You're_  the lie detector." Regina said smartly as she rounded the car and lowered herself inside. Emma followed suit and dropped into the passenger's seat.

"I didn't sense anything off, but Gold's different. He's always been kind of a blind spot for me."

Regina started the car and sat back in her seat for a moment. She sighed.

"We have to prepare for the possibility he  _is_ lying, then. And when you get that sword, I want a better look at it. I don't want you walking into this only to be blindsided."

Emma warmed at the very serious concern in Regina's eyes.

"Awww, you really  _do_  give a shit about me, don't you? Never thought I'd see the day." Emma teased.

"Show you a bit of care and you go flinging it back in my face. Typical Emma Swan." Regina deadpanned. She couldn't suppress the ghost of a smirk.

"You love it." Emma leaned in and pulled the other woman to her lips. The desire that had sprung up as she held Excalibur was still firing on all cylinders, warming her body up to the brunette in ways she still hadn't had the opportunity to fully explore. The kiss heated quickly, their tongues sliding against one another's in haste, their hands grabbing at each other's clothes.

Regina pulled back with great effort. "I think it's time I took you home." She didn't disguise the hunger in her eyes and the blonde picked up on it easily, donning a broad grin as she settled back into her seat and buckled her belt.

Regina sped a little on her way back, confident that she'd avoid a ticket since the town sheriff was sitting expectantly next to her. She parked the car in the driveway, her blood rushing and her nerves twitching in anticipation. She glanced at Emma as they made their way to the front door. It was late now. Darkness was enfolding around them like a cloud. But it didn't do anything to mask the excitement in those bright green eyes. Regina smiled and approached the door, freeing it with her house key.

Almost as soon as she was through it, Emma had her pressed against the other side of the door, claiming her lips in a sloppily possessive way. Regina let herself melt into the embrace, letting the blonde momentarily lord over her lips.

Eventually, Regina pushed the eager blonde backwards lightly. She eyed the woman's hungry expression.

She put her hand to Emma's face, tracing the strong line of her jaw, coming to rest under her chin. "Upstairs?" Regina smirked.

"But that's so far!" Emma said with a grin. She groped at Regina's shirt but allowed herself to be pulled up the stairs and into Regina's bedroom.

Regina pushed Emma onto the bed as soon as she was within range. Emma moved back on the mattress and then reached for the brunette's hand so she could pull her body down on top of hers.

In that position, with Regina straddling her, Emma felt the overwhelming rush again. The rush of sensation that told her this was where she should be, regardless of the consequences. Emma tucked a piece of hair behind Regina's ear.

"You're so beautiful," Emma breathed. Regina's smile softened a little. She leaned down and brushed her lips lightly over Emma's, delighting in the barest sensation. The blonde snaked her hand into soft brown hair and Regina sank down against her, her body resting neatly against Emma's, their lips moving together in silent worship.

There was  _want_  in every move of legs, arms, and mouths. It was as if every motion in isolation could be a complete picture of their desire.

Regina slid a leg between Emma's, allowing them both to rock gently against one another's thighs. Emma moaned into her mouth. Regina smirked into the kiss, rather pleased that she wasn't as rusty as she'd first thought. The smirk was gone when she gasped sharply at the press of a hand that had slid suddenly down the front of her pants.

Her eyes flicked open to take in the smiling greens below her, a note of mischief in them.

"Well aren't  _we_  crafty," Regina husked as the hand began to move gently against her underwear.

"Crafty  _and_ horny. I'm practically lethal." Emma replied. Her fingers worked carefully, kneading the pliant flesh, and Regina hummed at the sensation of the fabric being rubbed against her. Emma soon slipped her fingers beneath the barrier, getting her first touch of Regina's hot, slick centre.

Emma was tentative at first, exploring. She mapped the skin with her fingertips, relishing in every slide and swirl. Then she moved one finger delicately around Regina's entrance and the brunette inhaled a little at the touch.

"Move up," Emma instructed, guiding Regina by the waist with her other hand, prompting her to shift up the bed a little. Regina complied, placing her palms against the pillows above Emma's head to support herself. The move gave the blonde more leverage and she took advantage quickly, plunging one finger smoothly inside. Regina's mouth fell open as her eyes fell shut.

Emma looked up to watch the woman's face intently, moving her finger in and out slowly, crooking it here and there to feel each bump and patch of skin inside. As Regina's hips began to move in an easy rhythm, Emma slipped in another finger to join the first. Regina's hands clenched the pillowcases.

As Emma worked her fingers a little harder, curling them a little more firmly and brushing her palm against the woman's clit, her other hand moved up the camisole to reach the neckline. Regina's breasts were lined up well with Emma's face, so she pulled down at the camisole and dragged the cup of her bra along with it, exposing one, dark nipple. Emma lunged up and caught it between her lips. She swirled her tongue around it and Regina let out a shuddering breath. When she rolled it between her teeth, Regina clutched a hand to the back of Emma's head.

Regina's hips moved faster against the hand inside her. She gave herself over to Emma's every whim, closing her eyes to fully experience each swipe of tongue and palm.

"Look at me," Emma said, her breath hot against Regina's chest.

Regina did as she was asked, feeling suddenly very close to the edge of her release.

Emma watched the light change in Regina's eyes: the way they flickered from dark to light while she was at the precipice; the way they widened just for a split second when she peaked.

Regina dropped her hand from Emma's head back to the pillow, supporting herself on shaking arms as her body quaked. Emma kissed as much of the woman's chest as she could reach before finally removing her fingers from Regina's pants.

She brought her them to her mouth and licked them clean, her eyes falling shut at the first taste. The flavour was slightly tangy, but rich. It filled Emma with impossible warmth.

Regina's body slumped into the space beside Emma as they both caught their breath.

The brunette dragged a lazy hand over Emma's neck, sliding it down her chest and over her stomach where she stopped to draw little circles on her shirt.

Emma stopped the hand and laced their fingers together. She turned her head to study Regina.

Emma's soft expression slid into a silly grin.

"How was it for  _you_?" She said, trying not to laugh. Regina chuckled instead. Then she paused to consider it in mock-seriousness.

"Hmmm… Satisfactory." Regina nodded and then grinned.

Emma's eyebrows raised. "That's it, huh? I guess I'll have to work a little harder." Emma rolled onto her side and reached out to pull Regina closer, but the brunette had different plans. She pushed hard against Emma's shoulder and rolled on top of her again, pinning her arms above her head.

"It's my turn, dear. Lay back and pay attention." Regina said. She dropped her head and captured Emma's lips roughly, tasting herself there. She released Emma's hands only when she began a trail of kisses down Emma's chin, neck, chest, and stomach, just as her hand had done. She scraped her nails under Emma's shirt, leaving long red lines all over her belly. She pushed the shirt up and the blonde quickly discarded it. She wove her fingers into Regina's hair as she watched her descend.

Emma knew they should sleep, but when her jeans and underwear followed the path of her shirt and Regina's tongue first flicked at her heat, she quickly abandoned the pursuit of an early rest.

* * *

Regina awoke bathed in morning light – an arm hung about her bare waist and her muscles pleasantly, perfectly sore – to knocking. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light in the room. The knocking came again, just a gentle thudding at the front door and Regina groaned.

She lifted Emma's arms to her lips and planted a kiss against the pale skin before resting it against the space she left behind as she rose from the sheets.

She rolled her neck and went to her closet to throw on a large blue terrycloth robe. She heard the blonde rouse.

"Doesn't anyone know how to call ahead?" Emma croaked, her voice thick and drowsy.

"Apparently not. I'll go see how fast I can get rid of them. You go back to sleep." Regina said softly. Emma was about to launch into some kind of rebuttal but Regina spoke first. "I mean it."

If Emma's eyes had been open, she would have rolled them.

"Fine," she said as she turned over and pulled the covers over her head.

Regina retreated down the stairs to greet the unwelcome guest.

She opened the door to find her stoop vacant. She looked further down the driveway and Snow popped back out of her car, giving a hesitant little wave before she shut the car door behind her. Regina raised her eyebrows as Snow approached the front door.

"I thought the meeting wasn't until nine," Regina said when the woman was closer. She'd checked the clock; it was just before seven.

"It isn't, I just wanted to speak with you beforehand, get a few things straightened out before we talk to the town." Snow said with a gentle smile. Her hands were shoved in her coat pockets as she stood in the cold.

Regina opened her mouth, then closed it. She nodded.

"Sure. That sounds like a good idea."

* * *

Emma dragged herself out of bed around 8 o'clock, reawakened by the growling deep in her stomach. Breakfast with a side of Regina sounded like a mighty fine plan. Emma grinned stupidly as she descended the stairs in her red Superwoman underwear and white tank. She left her bra on the bedpost where she'd hung it the night before.

She yawned broadly and wandered blindly into the kitchen.

Snow and Regina were seated on stools at the kitchen island, each with a mug in hand, each  _now_ with similar expressions of shock at the blonde's entrance.

Emma's eyes went wide and she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover the nipples that were showing through her shirt.

"Snow!" Emma said. Both of their faces went red. Regina's features settled into an expression of barely masked amusement as she tried not to laugh.

"I didn't expect you to, uh. What brings you here?" Emma forced her tone to be casual. Her red undies kind of ruined the attempt.

Snow inhaled as she tried to form a complete sentence amidst the awkwardness. "I… just stopped by to talk to Regina. For a bit. But I think we've pretty much wrapped everything up!" Snow nodded as she rose to her feet. She put her cup in the sink so she could  _not_ look at her daughter in her skivvies and took the moment to take a deep breath and collect herself. She turned back around with a trademark Snow-White smile.

Emma was meanwhile trying to silently yell at Regina with her eyes. Something to the tune of, 'why didn't you warn me  _before_  I walked into the kitchen nearly half-naked in front of my mother?' Regina only smirked as she took a sip of tea.

Snow caught a second of the non-verbal exchange and nearly laughed in spite of her discomfort. Emma met her mother's eyes apologetically.

"I'm  _really_ sorry." Emma said.

"It's okay. I'll see you at town hall." Snow affirmed. She padded her way out of the kitchen to grab her coat. Regina followed her to the door.

Snow finished assembling her outer wear and took a long look at Regina. They hadn't had this long a talk since she'd been young enough to call her stepmother. It was oddly refreshing. And until Emma had arrived, Snow had been surprisingly at ease in the former-mayor's presence.

She smiled at Regina warmly.

"I'm really glad we had the chance to talk." Snow said.

Regina returned the smile.

"Me too."

Snow hesitated for a second and then lunged at Regina, pulling her into a tight hug. Regina stood stiff in the woman's arms for a second and then responded in kind, her hands coming to rest against Snow's back.

Despite still holding onto a little hatred for the woman, Snow couldn't push down the fear that had sprung up when Emma had informed her of Cora's visit to Regina. She had feared not just for Emma and Henry's happiness, but truly for Regina's well-being. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time.

She released Regina and smiled again. She nodded for no reason at all.

"I'll see you in an hour."

Regina watched out the door until Snow's car was out of sight before closing it. Emma crept up behind her and wrapped her arms around the robed waist, pulling Regina back in to her body.

"So. You. Talking to my mother – should I be worried?" Emma said.

Regina shook her head.

"Not this time, dear." She hugged the arms tighter around her for a moment. "Come on, let's get ready."

* * *

Regina hadn't seen the inside of the town hall in weeks. Not since she'd packed up her things in a few measly boxes and taken 28-years-worth of history back to her house. The boxes were still in the basement, unwelcome reminders of how resentfully unemployed she was.

On the way from the car, she stopped dead in her tracks, suddenly terrified to go inside.

A set of long, warm fingers folded into hers and she took a deep breath.

"It's going to be okay. Trust me." Emma said.

"I do."

They let go of their closed hands, resolved to keep their relationship off the docket of discussion for the meeting. It would be hard enough to maintain the decorum of the room  _without_  that topic being raised.

They arrived early, hoping to beat the bulk of the townsfolk, but the room was half full when they arrived. The rows of seats were filled with panicked citizens and none of them seemed calmed by the appearance of the Evil Queen.

Emma resisted the urge to reach out and calm the woman who was visibly bristling under the scrutiny of the crowd.

Emma spotted James and Snow at the front of the hall and made a beeline to join them, catching Regina's eyes and nodding towards her intended destination. Regina nodded absently and continued to search the room for the hazel-eyed boy she most desired to see.

"Mom!" Henry's body flew into hers and attached itself immediately. "I'm glad you're okay." He said, looking up at her.

She smiled broadly. "You haven't gotten rid of me yet," she teased, brushing the underside of his chin. She was struck by a profound ache, wanting more than anything to live long enough to see wiry patches of hair sprout along that chin. She wanted to live long enough to see her boy become a man.

Snow's voice rose over the crowd. "We're going to start in a few minutes if everyone could just grab a seat." She took her own chair, front-and centre, joined at a long table at the head of the room by James, Granny, Archie, Geppetto, Emma, and a visibly uncomfortable Gold. One chair next to Emma was still vacant.

Henry grabbed Regina's hand to bring her to sit with him when Regina's phone buzzed in her jacket pocket with a text from Emma.

_We'd like you to come sit up here, if that's okay._

Regina met the woman's eyes and Emma put on a big goofy, grin as she patted the seat beside her. Regina rolled her eyes, placed a kiss on Henry's head, and made her way to the front of the room. Just before she made it past the aisles of townsfolk she heard someone make an exaggerated spit of disgust behind her. She blinked but didn't lose a step, not stopping until she placed herself in her chair.

She thanked the gods that the table was covered when Emma's hand crept over her thigh and gave it a firm squeeze.

After a few more minutes, Snow stood and the room hushed. She looked out over the crowd, her face empty of the fear that had been there the night before, and spoke with a regal confidence.

"Welcome, and thank you for joining us under such short notice. I wish I could say the reason I've asked you here today was a happy one. As you know, we have not yet found a reliable method of transport to our homeland, something many of you have expressed interest in. But it has come to our attention that someone has found their way  _here_. A pirate that goes by the name "Hook" and his companion, "Cora Mills."

A fervour of voices raised at the mention of Regina's mother. James rose to his feet.

"Please! We understand your concern – that's why we're here!" He shouted out over the room, quieting them somewhat. He sat back down when Snow resumed.

"We know them both to be dangerous, though we are still unsure of what they want," Snow said. She was about to continue when Regina interrupted.

"No we're not." She flashed Snow a weak smile. Snow nodded and took her seat as Regina stood.

The many times she had addressed this crowd felt like a different life. Instead of fearful obedience, these people only harboured hatred for her now. She looked over their faces solemnly.

"Both Cora and Hook are here for revenge. Against myself and Mr. Gold." Regina began. "But while neither are after any of  _you_ , you are  _all_  at risk. They will stop at nothing to act against us and as such no one is safe."

"Of  _course_  it's your fault!" Grumpy shouted from his seat.

"We should have hung you when we had the chance!" Another voice called out.

A few more shouts joined the clamour to similar effect. In another life, Regina would have silenced them with a wave of her hand or shouted them back down into place. But not now. Instead, she took a deep breath and absorbed the words. Every last hateful slur.

She kept her posture straight, her head high. Slowly the voices dialled down, many of the crowd struck dumb by the tranquil reaction of their former mayor. Very few people had seen her at all in the last few weeks and none of them had ever known her to be so patient.

She waited until it was quiet enough to resume.

"After consulting with your queen," Regina motioned to Snow. "We have decided that those who are willing may seek refuge in the crypt. There is a place inside that is safe, hidden, and easily defended. With your compliance, I would cast barriers for protection and we would stock food and supplies there."

"Why should we trust  _you_?" Another voice from the corner of the room rung out.

Regina saw Emma move to stand, but she put her hand out first, willing the blonde to stay put.

"You have no reason to." Regina said. She let the words sink in. "I know I have wronged you and I have done little penance for my crimes. I know how little my words mean to you, but I promise that after Cora is defeated and the town is safe," Regina took another deep breath. "I will submit to whatever punishment the town decides."

A flurry of murmured conversations broke out around the hall. Emma jumped up and grabbed Regina's arm.

"Regina? What are you doing?!" She frantically searched the calm brown eyes.

Regina gave her a sad smile. "What has to be done."

Snow rose to her feet as well and spoke over the din.

"For those who accept our offer of sanctuary, we ask that you meet at Granny's at 9 a.m. tomorrow to amass supplies to bring to the crypt. For those unwilling to accept our help," she eyed a seething Grumpy. "We suggest you find somewhere else to stay out of sight. The sign for the all-clear will be thirteen rings of the bell in the clock tower. Go home, pack your things, and prepare. The next few days will be long."

The townspeople rose in a stupor and began to filter out, each face filled with unease. Emma was slumped in her chair, her features knitted in worry. She wouldn't look at Regina.

"Snow put you up to it." Emma said.

"No. It was my decision and your mother agreed with me."

"That decision doesn't just affect  _you_." Emma looked to where Henry was sitting with Ruby, his face a mirror of her own concern. When their eyes met, Emma dropped hers back to the table.

"I'm sorry, Emma. This is how it has to be." Regina reached out for Emma's hand, but Emma wrenched it away before she could take it. The blonde rose to her feet and rounded the table; Regina was in close pursuit.

"Emma," Regina clasped the woman's arm, forcing her to stop. Emma whipped back around and looked her hard in the eye.

Gold ambled up behind them, watching the whole scene unfold with light amusement.

"I hate to disturb this lover's quarrel, but I have Emma's gift." He said, drawing the attention of both women. Regina dropped Emma's arm and the blonde took a step towards Gold, away from Regina.

"Where is it?" Emma asked. The only thing he was carrying was a dark brown sack that looked too small to carry more than a tissue box.

"Right here," he said, holding up the bag delightedly. He loosened the string at the top and reached inside, feeling around. When his hands grasped what he was looking for, he pulled the sword out of the enchanted bag and presented it to Emma.

She took it in both hands, inspecting the ivory scabbard that now housed the blade and the brown belt it was attached to.

She fastened the belt around her hips until she was pleased with the fit.

"Anything else I need to know?" Emma asked.

"Nothing Regina can't tell or teach you." He replied with a smirk. "So long as there isn't  _too_  much trouble in paradise." His eyes flicked between the two of them before he made his way out of the building.

Emma finally turned around to face Regina. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't figure out what she wanted to say before Henry came to join their side.

"Did Mr. Gold just give you that?" Henry asked, putting his palm over the scabbard.

"He sure did." Emma replied, ruffling his hair.

Snow, James, and Ruby came to stand with the makeshift family.

Snow spoke first, looking between Emma and Regina, noticing the stilted air about them.

"I know you two need time to prepare, but I was wondering if you wanted Henry to hang out for the day. We can pick him up for dinner."

Regina smiled.

"I would like that. If Emma is keen as well." She looked to the blonde hopefully.

Emma nodded.

"That's the best idea I've heard all day," Emma said, not without a tone of bitterness. "Come on, kid." She led him down the centre aisle and out the door. She didn't pause for Regina to follow.

Snow took a step closer to Regina's side. "She'll be okay. She's just scared."

Regina nodded but couldn't shake the sickly feeling that she had just damaged her chance at happiness.


	6. Chapter 6

Gold was unsurprised to find lights on in the shop he'd left dark. His guest didn't need a key to trespass. He unlocked the door and shut it behind him.

"You might as well come out and say hello," Gold called out into the quiet room. Cora emerged like a dark specter from the back, looking terribly impatient.

"I'm sure you're aware there was a town meeting." Gold said. He leaned his cane against the wall and went about removing his coat and scarf to hang on the rack.

"I am. I didn't think it would take  _quite_  so long. Or were you just avoiding coming back here?"

He didn't flinch, but her words were too true. He'd spent an hour at least walking about the town post-meeting, preparing himself for this very conversation, choosing what he needed to say, what Cora needed to hear.

"The meeting went a little long," he said. "As expected, not many people found your daughter to be worthy of trust."

Cora hummed. "And I'll bet the Saviour rose to the occasion? She seems awfully protective of Regina these days." She sneered in disapproval.

"The entire Charming family vouched for her implicitly." Gold said.

"Yes of course, but  _Emma_ ," she said the name with disdain, "is the one taking a place in my daughter's bed. Regina never did have very good taste."

Gold nodded slowly. So Cora was keeping  _very_  close tabs on Regina. Probably on him as well.

"I hear the little harlot has a weapon now. Some kind of sword. Do you know something about that?" Cora asked in a painfully sweet cadence.

"I do. Since I'm the one who gave it to her."

"It better not give her any advantages, Crocodile."

"On the contrary, it will work very much in  _our_  favour."

"Oh?" Cora asked, suddenly intrigued. She moved behind a counter and leaned over it to rest her head in her hand, her cleavage on full display. She had always enjoyed trying to tease him, tempt him.

"You understand, of course – at least to some extent – the power I can exert over your daughter." Gold paused.

"Yes…" Cora prompted.

"Well the enchantment on that sword has a similar effect. I can guide its will if I so choose."

"Then won't Regina figure that out? My daughter may be a pawn, but she is not such a fool."

"My, my. That was almost a compliment." Gold said with a smirk. "I'm  _counting_  on her to check. Which is why I spent twice as long casting safeguards. When she investigates its qualities, she will find only the ones useful to Emma."

Cora nodded, mulling over the information. "So you knew my daughter and the Saviour were cavorting, did you? How long were you intending to keep  _that_ from me?" A flame flickered in her eye.

"I've known, but only  _after_  the last time we spoke. You haven't come round since then," he replied coolly.

She eyed him carefully for a moment, then broke into a wide grin. "Very well. As per my part of the deal, I will deliver you Hook as soon as I have the details arranged. You will deal with him as you see fit and then take my side to enact the end of all this  _madness_." Her eyes sparkled at the word, as if the concept were in fact very dear to her.

"So you'll be in contact again then?" Gold asked hopefully. His life would not be secure until Hook was dispatched. The discomfort of living under a hanging knife was wearing on him.

Cora grinned at him and he saw, more than ever, that she truly was mad. "In a manner," she said. "Good day, Rumple. Take the rest of the day to shine your scales, or whatever it is you do around here." She disappeared in her smoky, black plume and he was left, finally, in solitude.

He squeezed his eyes shut and put a hand to his head, the place that had been filled with a profound ache all morning.

Some magic came with a karmic price, some barely with a price at all. The magic he'd used to restore Excalibur left him with the price of pain – blinding migraines that had come and gone with no warning over the last couple of days.

He sank into his lush, green armchair behind the rightmost counter. He soothed his forehead with his fingers.

A knock at the shop door did not help to alleviate the pain. He ignored it, hoping whoever it was would leave. But he realized he'd left the door unlocked when the bell above the frame chimed.

"Rumple?" There was only one he still  _willingly_ allowed to call him by the name. Belle stepped timidly into the shop, unable to spot the man seated out of sight.

"I'm here, Belle."

She followed the voice and found him sitting in his chair, his face set in a stiff smile, his posture tense.

"Are you all right?" She placed the book she was carrying down on the counter and knelt down in front of him. She reached to sooth his head and he flinched, his eyes screwing shut again.

"Rumple, what is it?" She said fearfully, pulling her hand back.

"Just some side effects of my good work," he said with a comforting smile. He paused to seek solace in her bright, green eyes. "Don't worry." He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "It'll pass."

He stood shakily to his feet as Belle steadied him by the arm. He took a deep breath and thought. She curled his hair around his ear.

"Belle, I need to ask something of you. You  _can_  refuse." He said. "I almost want you to."

"What is it?" She asked.

He turned to look at her, already regretting the request he was about to make.

* * *

The drive back to the mansion was uncomfortable at best.

Regina lowered herself into her Mercedes, taking notice that Emma had elected to sit in the back seat beside Henry rather than in the passenger seat.

She swallowed her disappointment and didn't say a word the whole ride home, choosing instead to listen to Emma chat softly with their son.

When she parked the car, the blonde bounded out of it immediately.

Henry stayed still for a moment, looking into the mirror to catch Regina's pained expression. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. She soothed the hand there, as if siphoning a little of her son's strength, and took a deep breath.

She turned off the ignition and they left the car together, approaching the front step where Emma was sitting, seething and shivering lightly in the cold air, unwilling to meet Regina's eyes.

She leaned to the side to let the brunette pass.

Regina unlocked the front door and ushered her son through it before returning to Emma's side. She offered her hand to help the woman stand up but Emma ignored it, stood, and passed into the house. Regina sighed and followed her in.

Henry whipped his coat and boots off in a flurry and then bounded up the stairs. He came back down as his mothers hung their coats. His arms were overflowing with what appeared to be craft supplies. Emma grabbed a box of markers from the crook of his arm before it could crash to the floor.

"Whoa, kid. What's all this for?"

He didn't stop in his trek towards the dining room. "Strategizing!" He said brightly.

Emma raised her eyebrows and followed him through the door, Regina at her heels.

When he'd divested himself of the materials, placing them all on the dining room table, he reached for a roll of chart paper and spread it out over the table, weighing down each corner with various supplies.

He took a marker and drew a long line down the centre of the page then dotted little house symbols on either side of it.

"So I'm thinking," Henry began, looking intently down at his work. He circled an area near the centre of his line. "If we can get Cora to the middle of town, we can keep her away from the crypt, distract her from hurting anyone there. But we have to think of a good spot to get the advantage, somewhere we can be ready when she shows up." He spoke quickly, poring over the sheet in front of him, deep in thought.

"Henry." Emma said gently, pulling his attention to her. "I get that you wanna help. But I think right now I need some time to  _not_  think about this stuff okay? Can't we just hang out?"

"But we have to. Or else Cora will win. She can't win!" Henry said defiantly. His features were contorted in confusion.

Emma didn't know what to say. She'd often felt like this since meeting her son. The crash-course nature of their relationship left her feeling like she was constantly floundering, never quite sure how to act or what to do in any number of situations. No one had ever taught her to be a good parent. No one had ever really taught her how to be a parent at all.

"Our priority is to keep you safe, and we will." Regina said, coming to her son's opposite side." _Your_  job will be to stay in the crypt with the others and protect them."

"What? No! I have to be with you in the final battle!"

Regina knelt down to look him in the eye. She took his hand in hers.

"I love you very much. And for that reason, I cannot have you there." She turned her head to look at the chart on the table. "You wouldn't want to lose any tactical advantage, right? If I'm too distracted worrying about you," She turned back to look at him again. "Cora really will win."

"What about Emma? Won't you be worried about her?" Henry asked. He already knew the answer. The time the women had been spending together was unusual in itself, but the snippets of a conversation he heard between Snow and James had filled in the blanks for him.

Emma shifted uncomfortably at Henry's question. She resisted the urge to mutter something under her breath.

"Of course I will be. I  _am_." Regina replied. "But she has a very powerful sword to protect her now. She's very strong."

 _Not strong enough to survive fighting Cora only to have the town string you up afterwards._  Emma thought bitterly.

Henry nodded at Regina and grinned. He looked at the blonde sitting next to him and frowned at her solemnness. He looked back to Regina.

"Mom, can you grab Clue from upstairs?"

She nodded, taking his cue to give them a moment alone.

"Sure thing, sweetheart."

Regina left the room and Emma helped Henry clear his supplies to the side of the table, making space for the board game.

"You shouldn't be mad at her." Henry said quietly.

Emma blinked. She'd meant to keep him out of it, but then she had never been very good at hiding how pissed-off she was.

"I can't help it, kid. I'm scared. And when I get scared I get angry."

"It's okay to be scared." Henry said. He put the container of markers down and rounded the table to sit beside her. Emma wanted to vent, but she did  _not_ want to lay down her troubles to her ten-year-old son. "You know she's going to be okay, right?" Henry said when Emma remained silent.

She leveled a look of concern at him.

"I  _can't_ know that." She said quietly.

"Yes you can. I  _believe_  she'll be okay. Because good doesn't just have to beat evil, it can  _save_  it too. Like Belle and Rumplestiltskin." He searched her eyes for understanding. "We'll convince the town to be nice to her. After she's protected everyone and they see how much she means to us, they  _can't_ take her away."

He spoke fiercely, almost unnaturally so for one so young. But Henry was not any ordinary boy. He was hers.  _And_ he was Regina's. And that made him gentle and strong, hard and proud, good and clever. He was the best of them both and without so many of their combined faults.

He was, of course, brash and foolish sometimes in the ways that all children were. But Emma knew she'd never meet as remarkable an eleven-year-old as this one, the one she'd helped to create.

She smiled broadly and took his face in her hands. She looked at him for a moment, in comprehension of just how much she loved him, and then wrapped him into her arms, squeezing him tight.

"You can come in now, Regina," she called out.

Sure enough, the brunette came carefully through the door, the board game long-retrieved and tucked under her arm. She smiled at the scene: her son and his birth mother in a firm embrace, Emma's eyes brimmed with unshed tears. It was perhaps the most beautiful sight she'd seen since baby Henry had been delivered to her arms.

Emma held out her hand to Regina. The brunette put the box on the table and put her arms around them both. Emma planted a reverent kiss against her hair.

"Okay, folks," Emma said after a few more seconds. "That's enough Brady Bunch for one day. Now sit back and prepare to lose. You two may have Go Fish down to a science, but when it comes to Clue," Emma cracked her knuckles as they started to unpack the game. "I do not mess around."

Emma indeed knew her way around the board-game mansion. Her skills of detection were unmatched and she didn't lose a round. Regina and Henry could only laugh at her triumphant theatrics, giggles bubbling from them at every fist pump, shriek, and victory dance (of which there were unsurprisingly several).

The game was dotted with little instances of the women's eyes meeting, their hearts picking up an extra rhythm, their faces filling with a subtle glow. And each time Henry saw it happen, his heart lightened too.

This was the way the fairy tale was supposed to be. This was the story they were supposed to live. And it was better than any other story he'd known his whole life.


	7. Chapter 7

Hook sidestepped into the main hold – what used to be his Captain's quarters until Cora had commandeered it for herself. There were two candles lit on the desk, casting an unsettling glow over the place where Cora was sitting, poring over  _the_  book. She'd been obsessed with it ever since she'd taken him in as henchman back in Wonderland.

"Do you have anything to tell me?" Cora's voice curled in distaste, but she didn't look up from the book. She flipped a page and leaned closer to it.

He took a couple more careful steps into the room. Cora had been quite the little firecracker when they first met – violent and vengeful, mad and malicious – but if he'd thought she was hard to anticipate then, she was absolutely unpredictable now. Best to be on his toes.

"Last I saw of them they were playing house with Henry. Is that boring enough for you?" He scratched at his neck and took another step towards the desk. His muscles ached from his recent transformation. She'd made him a rodent this time to punish him for no fathomable reason. Being in the body of a rat had made it much more difficult to get a peek in the Mills Mansion, a fact of which she was no doubt aware.

She said nothing in response, as if she'd forgotten he was even in the room. Her silence made him stupidly bold.

"What are you doing reading that anyway? You must've finished it three dozen times. And that's only counting the last few weeks. Shouldn't you be preparing or something?" He crossed the floor and leaned over the desk, trying to get a better look. The script across the pages was in a language he didn't recognize. The pages themselves were a mess – blots of ink and ash marred the white spaces around the text.

She still made no attempt to answer him, nor any indication that she'd heard him at all.

"Or perhaps," Hook began as he dragged a finger across her collar bone. "We could make even  _better_  use of your time. Together."

His finger dipped lower towards the top edge of her dress when he felt the air shift. He had little time to reflect on his mistake.

Her hand was raised – though her eyes were still glued to her book – as she flung him across the room, his body hitting the door he'd come through with a crash. Several ornamental weapons that had been hanging on the wall clattered to the ground with him.

If he'd been sore before, he was in agony now.

"Not in the mood, then." He croaked. "Aye, aye, Captain. As you were." He lifted himself slowly, painfully from the floor and turned to leave. Just before he passed back out to the ship's deck, he called back to her. "That man's here for you. The one you sent out earlier."

Cora looked up then, suddenly intrigued.

"Send him in," she said shortly.

The door fell closed behind Hook, then opened again, this time allowing in a different character altogether, one she'd heard of since childhood.

The Genie of Agrabah had been one of her favourite legends. The stories said that he was once a powerful sorcerer-king, many millennia before her time, but that he'd been cursed to spend the rest of eternity in a golden lamp, the likes of which many fools had deigned to find. If successful, the treasure-hunters would be granted wishes, but those wishes tended to backfire in satisfyingly wicked ways.

After she re-emerged from Wonderland, she found out there that the story had developed even further.

The Genie had been freed by King Leopold, but from there the details were spotty. Leopold's death came soon after, only weeks after the Genie was free. Some said the Genie had murdered the king, some said he'd been tricked, while others said he hadn't performed the deed at all. In any telling, there was a single unifying detail: Queen Regina. Her beauty had been deemed irresistible by many. And each storyteller toed the same line: the Genie had fallen in love with the queen.

But after the King's death, he disappeared, assumed fled before he'd had to answer for his crimes.

So when Cora found the man fitting his description drunkenly wandering the alleys of Storybrooke, she'd been more than willing to bring him into her care and confidence.

And Sydney had come eagerly. In the weeks since the curse had been broken, he'd felt lost, betrayed, and angry. He knew he couldn't face Regina himself, couldn't bring about any suitable vengeance when he had no power, so instead he seethed. He drank. He wandered aimless in the dark, muttering curses in her name.

Cora could bring that vengeance for him. For them both. She could make the former-mayor suffer for all she'd done to him. She could make her beg and hurt and kneel before him in forgiveness. He would no longer be her pawn. She would be his.

Oddly enough, Cora had returned him to duties nearing what Regina had willed him to do the past 28 frozen years: he was the Queen of Heart's willing spy.

She set him on general tasks at first – the wills and whereabouts of any key players in Storybrooke. He'd compiled where they lived, their general schedules, who they spoke to, anything that could be of use. He'd made Cora familiar with the town and its inhabitants.

Then she'd had him tail more specific targets. And for it, she promised he'd be generously rewarded.

So when Sydney sidled into the ship's hold, he did so with a smile on his face, confident in his new master and his due reward.

"My Genie." Cora said with a glittering smile. "Come closer, pet."

Sydney crossed the room and took up his position in a chair across the desk.

"My queen," he said with a slight bow of his head. He couldn't stop from smiling.

"Have you any news for me, sweetness?" She liked to treat him gently, this new toy. He had been spurned by her daughter and that made him very useful. He nodded.

"Gold is with Belle as we speak, and he seems to be in a bit of pain. It is likely it stems from the work on Emma's sword."

The queen nodded in return. "Yes. Cursing Excalibur would near-cripple him. I was surprised he seemed so fit, but then he was always a remarkable actor. Anything else?"

"Your grandson is with Regina currently, but he is to return to Snow and James's care this evening. Tomorrow he is to join the rest of Storybrooke in the town crypt. Regina purportedly has some place within it that she deems reasonable to defend."

"No doubt. My daughter always keeps many holes to hide in." Cora grinned darkly.

"I can't be sure, but I  _suspect_  the force she's leading against you could overwhelm–" Sydney began, audibly concerned. She slipped her hand over his on the surface of the desk and silenced him.

"You let me worry about that bit. I have plans. I will not be overwhelmed." She rose from her chair and crossed the room. She picked up a gilded katana from the floor and hung it on the wall from where it had fallen. "Do you know, my pet, where Regina is the most vulnerable?"

Sydney paused to think as he observed the woman's movements. "Her heart?"

"A good guess. Many decades ago, I would have agreed with you." Satisfied with the sword's position on the wall, she leaned back down and raised a fallen musket to her eyes, trailing a curious finger over the gleaming design along its muzzle. "But now I would argue it is her mind where she is weakest. She doubts herself, her ability to be good, her worthiness of others' attention and trust.

"In the same breath," Cora turned back to face the Genie, the musket still in her hands, "her confidence makes her equally as susceptible. She thinks she can protect the ones she loves. She thinks she can reserve them from harm if she keeps them close. All of her delusions will be her undoing."

Cora grinned. Her eyes were bright with fire, her cheeks hot with flame. Sydney was in awe at the sight.

"My queen, you do not know how I have longed to see her undone," He breathed. His words may have carried another meaning altogether when he'd first met Regina, when he'd longed for her to be his. But now he had only one purpose. To see the woman who'd trapped him – both in their world and this one – perfectly destroyed.

Cora turned back to the wall and hung the musket in its place. She returned to her seat behind the desk. The book she'd been absorbed in was still open on its surface.

"Do you know what this is, my dear Genie?" Cora cooed.

Sydney shook his head. "Your highness has not shared with me its contents, though I know it is dear to you."

"Indeed it is." Cora smirked at him before lowering her eyes back down to its weathered pages. She closed her eyes and held her hand three inches above the book as Sydney looked on in rapture.

She began to swirl her hand in circles, her fingers curling and uncurling in fluid motion. At first the movement puzzled him, but then the book began to unravel, unwrapping itself from its binding, or so it appeared. It awed even him: the Genie whose power had once been great and whose wishes had been soured by so many greedy desires.

The book unwound further, seeming almost to sweep in and out of existence itself, until it finally began to appear in a new form, to flatten and spread, then roll at the ends. When Cora's hand stopped its spinning, the book stopped too, and now it was a tightly-coiled scroll. Cora opened her eyes with a small smile and then pushed the scroll over to him.

"Go ahead. Take a look for yourself." She said.

Sydney reached out tentatively and took the parchment in his grasp, carefully unfurling it. The script was in a strange hand; it was unlike any he'd ever seen in this world or the last.

"It is difficult to read, even for me." Cora soothed, noticing his furrowed brow. "I have spent a very long time deciphering it, re-reading its words, analyzing the drawings."

Sydney's eyes devoured the long, yellowed page. The words seemed like gibberish at first. They were hastily scrawled, as if someone had written them under great duress. Dots of ink marred the page; most of the ink was black but there was also the odd splatter of a rich blue ink that wasn't used in any of the writing.

"Did you know that butterflies bleed blue?" Cora said softly. Her tone was ghostly all of a sudden, taking on an eerie quality in the dim room. Sydney looked up at her, his eyes widening in a mix of confusion and fear. Cora smiled. "I didn't know myself until one defied my very simple instructions."

Sydney wracked his brain for some clue..

He'd read much in his years of standstill. And though he did not wear his years on his skin, he retained the information he'd gleaned from the tomes he'd found. He'd read of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland more than once.

"The Caterpillar," Sydney said softly, more to himself than to her. She nodded.

"He spoke so slowly most times. He spoke in circles and riddles and parables. None of it ever made much sense, but I loved to listen in my early days in Wonderland. Then one day he told me I'd be queen. And he was right." Her lips curled into a larger grin. "And that was how I learned he was not just a fool, but also a prophet."

Sydney dropped his eyes to the page again, afraid to hold the queen's gaze for too long. He drew his finger over a small picture, noticing that there were several hurried illustrations along the margin of text. The first was a splendoured queen. She stood in front of a swirling top hat, accompanied by a young pirate.

"I already knew how to get back of course – I needed no prophecy for that. But I wanted to know more. I needed to know just how far Regina would go. And what I would need to do to catch her. So I visited my old friend."

"And the Caterpillar told you what you wanted to hear?" Sydney asked.

"At first he refused. In that sleepy, condescending way of his. When I threatened him, he cocooned himself in smoke and tried to fly away." Her eyes glittered in fond recollection. "I caught him by a wing and tore it off. He didn't fly very far after that. But he did speak.  _Very_ quickly. He wrote nearly as fast as he spoke. It was quite a sight," Cora chuckled darkly. "The result is what you have there: the Caterpillar's  _final_  prophecy. The destiny I have come to claim."

Sydney's hands were shaking. Of course she'd killed the caterpillar when she'd had no use of him. He squinted at the sweeping text, but still couldn't glean much sense from it. "And you understand it?"

"I do." Cora said firmly. She reached for the scroll and took it from Sydney's hands very carefully. She spread it out over the desk, turning it so they both could see it properly. She pointed to an illustration further down the page and then turned her glinting eyes to Sydney's. "How do you think I found  _you_?"

Next to her fingertip was a hastily drawn portrait of Sydney, a bottle clutched in his hand, his back against a wall in a dark alley. It was the exact circumstances in which she'd found him a few weeks before. His eyes widened at the sight.

"Then what is next, my queen?"

"Next, we put information you have so carefully compiled for me to use."


	8. Chapter 8

**Be the Change – Chapter 8**

"Gold wants you to  _what_?!"

Ruby screeched amid the din of George's Tavern, earning her and her petite companion a few drunkenly perturbed glances. Belle leaned over their table in the back corner.

"Can you keep it down? Remember that thing about trying to keep a low profile?" She sat back and lifted her glass, taking a large swig of beer. She knew this was going to be a difficult proposition. The drinks weren't helping as much as she'd hoped they would.

Ruby sighed, but dropped her volume back down to a reasonable level.

"I'm sorry, but the idea of that  _psycho_  forcing you to risk life and limb for a plan we have no guarantee will work – that's a bit unsettling to me!" Ruby searched the girl's eyes for any hint of the fear she was currently feeling.

Belle ran her tongue over her teeth as she tried to decide which idea to disentangle first.

"He's  _not_  a psycho," Belle began. "And he's not  _forcing_  me to do anything. He said, very seriously I might add, that I can absolutely refuse to do it. But he asked because he knows I can help, that  _you and I_  can help. I haven't really been a functioning part of this town very long, but that doesn't mean I want to see it destroyed by whatever Cora has planned. If there's anything I can do to stop her, I'll do it."

Ruby said nothing but maintained a white-knuckled grip around her beer glass. She dropped her eyes to the table, forcing herself to take deep breaths. She shook her head, licked her lips, and looked back up at Belle.

"I can't even believe I'm saying this… Okay."

Belle's face lit with a wide smile. "You'll help?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'll help." She paused to assess the woman's glowing features. "God, if I'd known what kind of trouble you were going to get me in, I would  _not_  have become friends with you."

"Yes you would have"

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm a bit self-destructive that way." Ruby leaned back against her seat and drank greedily.

"I prefer the term, 'adventurous,'" Belle smirked.

* * *

After Snow picked Henry up for the evening, Regina went about the business of putting wards up around the mansion – partly for the protection and partly to get Emma to practise enchanting them herself. They would need to work quickly and carefully at the crypt the next morning.

When the house was suitably guarded, they settled into the sitting room so Regina could assess Excalibur. She squinted her eyes at it, agonizing over every inch.

Emma sat and watched the woman work, appreciating her slightly scrunched concentrating-face. She couldn't help the small smile that crept in. Regina was too focused to notice.

"So, Holmes. Any clues as to the dark one's insidious intent?"

Regina looked up with eyebrows raised. "Not yet, Watson."

"Oooh! You got a reference! Now I  _am_ impressed." Emma said with a shit-eating grin.

Regina's eyes narrowed. "You know I still have the ability to set you on fire, dear. Or have you forgotten?"

"Point taken. Although I can do that myself now. And mine would probably miss. Which would probably burn the house down." She leaned forward slightly. "And it is such a  _nice_ house."

Regina pursed her lips. "Point  _also_  taken." She presented Excalibur to Emma, hilt first. "From what I can tell, it will do no harm to you. But do be careful not to handle it by the pointy end." Regina smirked.

"I'll have you know I didn't just dick around in the Enchanted Forest all that time. I did actually  _learn_  how to use one of these. And Mulan, despite being painfully difficult to read, was a pretty good teacher." Emma couldn't take her eyes off of the gleaming blade in her hands. She revelled in the weight of it.

She didn't notice Regina lean in until she heard the woman's voice close to her ear.

"I'm a better one."

Emma turned to look at her with what she hoped was a seductive grin. Before she could speak or lunge forward to kiss her, Regina had both hands pressed to Emma's temples and she felt as though she were falling.

It was like she'd been pushed into a well headfirst – everything went dark and her head spun in widening circles. She tried to say something, to scream and yell, but the void swallowed her voice.

She was terrified, unable to move, completely and utterly lost and then, quite suddenly, she was sitting on the ground somewhere.

"What is this place?" Emma asked without expecting an answer, her eyes still adjusting to the change in light.

"You don't recognize it?"

The sound of Regina's voice wafting through the air calmed her instantly. She could make out the lines of the figure standing close to her. She pulled herself to her feet and Regina continued.

"I pulled it from your memory of the Enchanted Forest. It will serve as our vague sort-of practise place." Regina said brightly.

"Cool." Emma said, shirking the last remnants of fear. "It's like virtual reality or something." Her eyes could finally read the details.

It was a forest clearing, very similar to the ones she'd traipsed in for days on end with her mother and their travel companions only weeks before. But around the edges it was dark, as if it dropped off into nothing just past the short stretch of trees.

"Weird." She added, taking it all in.

"Indeed." Regina replied. She conjured two swords and handed one to Emma. She took a few steps away and raised her weapon. "Now, attack me. Let's see if you learned anything at all."

"What? Regina, I am not going to stab you. I'm not really into that kind of thing."

Regina laughed loudly. "Oh my, do you really think you  _can_?" The familiar challenge of their past returned to her tone. Emma bristled a little in spite of herself.

"Yeah." She said defiantly. "I do."

"Well that makes one of us."

Emma flung her sword out wildly, attempting to strike Regina on her right side. Regina easily parried, throwing Emma off balance.

"Don't get overwhelmed, darling," Regina cooed.

"I'm not overwhelmed." Emma practically growled.

She struck out again, a little more smoothly this time, making an eager swipe at Regina's shoulder. But the older woman was much too fast. She repelled the blade and countered with a few well-aimed slashes, forcing Emma backwards until she was pinned against a tree. Emma struggled to keep Regina's sword back with her own, panting and staring worriedly into the woman's eyes.

Regina just grinned. "The form is there. But your execution is sloppy."

"Then what d'you suggest, teach?"

Regina backed off, releasing the startled blonde. "Trust your instincts." She said. "You have more natural ability than you think. Breaking the curse, slaying a dragon. Saving my life." She added warmly before returning to her practised lilt. "You didn't learn how to do any of that in Boston."

Emma took her stance, taking more time to remember her lessons. She hadn't needed them before, when she'd had her trusty service weapon back in Storybrooke. But she had a feeling the sword might fare better than her 9mm against the Queen of Hearts.

"Whenever you're ready, Princess." Regina teased.

Emma closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. " _Trust my instincts._ " She thought firmly. She opened her eyes.

Instead of focusing on Regina's sword this time, she focused on Regina's body – the way her muscles were readied, the manner in which she stood, every miniscule twitch of anticipation.

Emma took a quick step forward, turning the angle of her sword in the air but not attacking and watched as Regina flinched. Emma began a slow step to her right, crossing one foot over the other, curving her walk so she began to circle the brunette.

Regina clued in and moved opposite to her in the same curve.

The former-mayor brought her sword out and down in a slashing motion towards Emma's chest, but Emma parried, redirecting the sword and returning with a smooth strike of her own. Regina barely blocked it in time, stumbling slightly.

Then she smiled. "That's more like it," she said before attacking again.

They sparred until they were both breathing heavily, their muscles beginning to stiffen. Regina stopped them, seemingly satisfied with Emma's progress.

"That will have to do." She smirked. "Now I'm going to show you something new."

"Oh?" Emma lifted an eyebrow, thinking immediately of some very particular things she thought she might like to learn from Regina. "I don't suppose it involves my reward."

"You have to  _earn_ a reward, Swan. You haven't impressed me yet."

Emma rolled her eyes and chuckled. "All right,  _master_. What else you got for me?"

Regina put her sword against her shoulder and a hand on her hip. "I'm going to teach you how to send your weapon through magic – to strike across a distance quickly when you yourself can't move fast enough. It's called 'shifting.'"

"Why can't I just 'shift' myself?"

"That's not how it works. Trust me: this is more effective than my usual method of teleportation. Faster and more dangerous to your enemy  _and_ it keeps you safe. Now, hold your sword in front of you," Regina demonstrated, holding hers in a horizontal line, ready to block an attack. Emma mimicked her. Regina nodded in approval and stepped back, giving her a wide berth.

"Hold firm; I'm going to show you how it's done." Regina said.

Emma strengthened her stance and watched as Regina brought her sword down hard, slicing through the air. Emma had just enough time to register purple smoke curl around the brunette's blade before it appeared above her, crashing down hard against her own sword with a deafening clang.

Emma just barely evaded its edge. She took a couple steps back, her eyes wide. The steel spectre was gone as soon as it had appeared.

"Holy shit!" Emma managed.

Regina's face contorted with worry. "Are you all right?"

Emma took a breath to steady herself. "That was frigging awesome."

Regina's face broke into a wide smile. "Yes, dear. It  _is_ that. Now I want  _you_  to try. Focus on your intention; see the space you're sending to. Visualize the strike and then make it."

Emma nodded. Regina restored her footing.

Emma steadied her sword, focusing on the space in front of Regina, then struck forward as she was instructed. She felt the small wisps of blue smoke burst from her hands and up the hilt and for a moment, she was sure she'd done it. But then she was falling forward, her sword finding only air instead of the other woman's weapon.

Her body hit the ground with a dull thud.

"Ow," she groaned, her voice muffled in the dirt. She could hear Regina trying to hold back sputtered laughter. "I'm glad you're enjoying this," Emma muttered, pushing herself to her feet and grasping for her fallen sword.

"I'm sorry," Regina had a hand covering her smile. "You did  _do_ it, only your aim was a bit... left."

Emma dusted herself off and plucked a few blades of grass from her teeth. She was embarrassed by how badly she was doing. She wanted to do well, to be ready. It pissed her off that Regina was laughing when there was so much at stake. If Emma couldn't protect her family, she'd never live it down. In fact, if she couldn't defend herself properly, she wouldn't live at all.

"Put your sword up, your majesty." Emma demanded. Regina's face opened up in surprise before she complied.

Emma rolled her sore shoulders back a few times. She focused on her target – and a bit  _right_  this time.

She brought her blade through the air in an arc and felt the resistance immediately as her sword struck Regina's hard.

Her delight at success was burst by a sudden cry of pain. She saw a wound across Regina's forearm – the strike had done more than she'd thought.

Emma was at her side in an instant. "Shit! Regina, I'm so sorry!" Emma was afraid to touch the woman, afraid she'd lash out in anger.

But when Regina looked up, her face was full of pride.

"Nonsense. You did perfectly." She extended her arm to Emma. "Besides, you know how to fix this."

Emma dropped her sword and took the arm in hand, smoothing her palm over the wound, through the hot slick of blood, wiping it away as she went. When she drew her hand back, the cut was gone. Only a few smudges of red and a little pool on the forest floor were any indication there'd been any damage at all.

Emma brought the healed skin to her lips and planted a kiss on the olive skin. She pulled the arm around her neck. Her chest filled with warmth.

"You did well. Better than expected," Regina purred, her lips brushing Emma's cheek. Emma swallowed, those lips leaving sparks against her skin.

"It might have something to do with the fact that I'm absurdly hot for teacher."

Emma turned her head and claimed the pair of full lips she so enjoyed, sucking the lower one between her teeth and smiling slightly at the moan she was met with. Regina's sword fell to the ground as she wrapped her other arm around Emma's waist, bringing their bodies to brush together.

It didn't take long for Emma to push the older woman up against a tree, her hands hungrily roaming every inch of Regina's body, pulling at the collar of her shirt, trying to free the buttons blindly.

Regina broke away for a moment to help her, her fingers working in a frenzied pace. Emma slipped her thigh between Regina's and the brunette bucked against her, her fingers' pursuit momentarily forgotten as she reached to pull the blonde closer.

Emma was painfully aroused – her clit was so hard that just grinding against Regina's leg through her jeans felt like enough to get her off pretty promptly.

Before she had enough time to push forward, they heard a distant ringing echo through the dark trees.

Regina hesitated but Emma kept moving, pulling despreately at the woman's hips.

"What is that?" Regina said. "Is that your phone?"

"Y-yeah," Emma managed.

Regina pulled at Emma's hips to still her and planted a quick peck to her lips. "We should go back, then. It could be Henry. Or Snow. Something might be wrong."

Emma slumped against the woman in defeat. "Goddamnit."

She barely got the word out before she felt herself falling backwards, then straight up, as if she were being sent flying back up the well she'd come through. The darkness and stillness was back again but she was no longer afraid.

When she opened her eyes on the other side, she breathed a sigh of disappointment. All she wanted to do was be with Regina, to be as close to her and full of her as she could before they faced the possibility that it would all be torn away. She screwed her eyes shut at the thought. " _No. I am_ not  _going to lose her after everything."_

Regina was no longer in the room with her but the phone was still ringing. Emma leapt around the couch to retrieve the interrupting item from her jacket pocket. She didn't recognize the number but picked up anyway.

"Sherriff Swan," she answered gruffly.

"Miss Swan. I hope I'm not interrupting." Gold sounded genuinely contrite.

"You do?" Emma didn't attempt to suppress the shock in her voice.

"Yes, and I would have waited to speak with you tomorrow if it wasn't vitally important."

Emma didn't like the sound of that. "Okay..."

Gold took a deep breath and launched in. "I've enlisted Belle and Ruby for a little 'quest' of sorts. Something that we'll need for our inevitable battle."

"What kind of quest?"

"I'm sending them to find Cora's heart."

"What?!" Emma cried out loudly. She ducked her head through the sitting room door to see if Regina was lurking around a corner. Satisfied that she was alone, she lowered her voice. "I mean, I'm not  _really_  surprised she doesn't actually have the thing in her chest, but what the hell?"

"Cora removed her heart before she gave birth to Regina. We need to find it so we have the upper hand."

Emma's brain was wracking, working faster than her mouth could keep up with. "But if she gets her heart back, she could be normal. Regina could have a mother. One that could actually love her."

"Unfortunately that's not possible. When Cora removed the heart, she also cursed it. So long as it stays out of her chest, she can't be killed. But as soon as it returns to her, she will die."

"Why? What the hell kind of curse is that?"

"The price of her strength – it is why she is both cruel and powerful. That is why she hides the heart. She believes that love is weakness and therefore would never want the heart inside her. Nonetheless, it needs to be kept somewhere so she can stay alive."

Emma laughed darkly.

"I don't see how any of this is funny, dearie." Gold chastised.

"I was just wondering why you called  _me,_ but now I get it. You're afraid to tell Regina."

"Yes, well I decided that  _you_ might be a bit better at softening the news considering your relationship."

"It would help if I had more details."

"You have all of the information you need for the task at hand."

Emma was about to push, but she knew he wasn't going to offer her anything else. "Fine. Then what makes you think Belle and Ruby will be able to find it at all? I imagine Cora hid it pretty well."

"They both excel at tracking. Each in different ways. I would go myself but right now I need to keep Cora assuming I am still playing the role of her loyal double-agent."

"Pretty sure that's an oxymoron, but I guess I can see where you're coming from. So if Belle finds it – can't we crush it and kill her that way?"

"No. It must be put back in her chest somehow."

"Awesome. Well, we'll cross that clusterfuck when we come to it. Any other depressing news to share?"

"Other than the fact that if any part of this goes wrong we'll all be dead or worse in a matter of days?" He paused to consider this. "No."

"Good. Because I have something else to tell  _you_. I'm going to  _try_  and trust you even though I know justwhat kind of person you are. But I swear on my life, Gold: if you hurt Regina or Henry or  _anyone_  I love, either directly or by more manipulative bullshit, you won't live long enough to realize the mistake you've made. Do we understand each other?" Emma's snarl was clear in her voice.

Gold hesitated, clearly surprised by the Sherriff's vehemence. "Yes, I believe we do. And, Miss Swan?" He paused to smile to himself. "I can tell what she sees in you."

* * *

Emma could feel the stirrings of a headache coming on as she threw her phone onto the coffee table. She thrust the heels of her hands against her forehead. How was she going to tell Regina about the method of ending Cora without hurting her?

She shook her head. Regina was going to hurt no matter what she said. She just had to go ahead and say it before she lost her nerve. And be careful with her. It would hurt too much to lose her now. If she didn't explain it just right, she was worried the former queen would grasp at a hope of returning her mother to some form of stable humanity.

Emma steeled herself for an unpleasant conversation and went about the house searching for the brunette. She checked the bedroom first, calling out the woman's name and trying to brush away the rising worry in her chest.

"Regina?" She called out again quietly when she reached Henry's room. She went back downstairs, her heart beating rapidly now. Maybe she'd just gone to the kitchen to start dinner. Emma clung to the lingering hope like a preserver.

When she opened the door to the kitchen, she halted immediately. Her jaw dropped open and her hands went slick with sweat.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit."


	9. Chapter 9

_"But if she gets her heart back, she could be normal. Regina could have a mother. One that could actually love her." Emma said._

_"Unfortunately that's not possible. When Cora removed the heart, she also cursed it. So long as it stays out of her chest, she can't be killed. But as soon as it returns to her, she will die." Gold replied._

_"Regina?" She called out again quietly when she reached Henry's room. She went back downstairs, her heart beating rapidly now. Maybe she'd just gone to the kitchen to start dinner. Emma clung to the lingering hope like a preserver._

_When she opened the door to the kitchen, she halted immediately. Her jaw dropped open and her hands went slick with sweat._

_"Holy. Fucking. Shit."_

A/N: I don't own Once Upon a Time, it's characters, it's anything, etc.

* * *

"Close your mouth, dear. You're drooling."

Emma did as she was told but couldn't wipe the expression of utter, unholy arousal from her face.

Regina was sitting primly on the island counter, her legs crossed at the knees, cutting an apple into neat slices and placing them in a bowl beside her perfectly perched ass. Which would have been painfully tempting in and of itself. Except that wasn't all. It was Regina's choice of outfit that left Emma particularly dumbfounded.

She was wearing her familiar, floral apron – the same one she'd been wearing the night Emma had asked her out – and not much else besides that. The outskirts of a black bra and underwear set peeked out around the apron's edges.

The only other things she wore were a pair of three-inch, black, patent heels and a victorious grin. She met Emma's eyes, pouring lust into her every syllable.

"I believe I promised you a reward."

Emma groaned. Why did the woman have to make what she needed to do so much harder?

"Come over here." Regina purred.

Emma moved on instinct, unable to say anything at the moment. She settled herself in front of the woman's crossed legs, her stomach bumping up against a smooth calf, both of her hands coming to rest safely on the counter's edge.

Regina dropped one last bit of the apple into the bowl and then set the core and knife aside. She was sitting straight up, her posture devastatingly regal, her chest arched forward towards Emma.

"I'm dreadfully hungry. Would you mind assisting me?" Regina asked, not bothering to make the request more specific. She was reasonably sure it would be obvious.

Emma swallowed hard, trying to reclaim a sense of calm. She picked up a piece of apple delicately between her fingers and raised it slowly. She hesitated, unable to close the distance to the red, waiting mouth. Regina leaned forward instead and took the slice on her own. She pushed the apple into her cheek and took Emma's index finger between her lips, sucking at it greedily, locking their eyes.

The blonde finally allowed her free hand to wander over Regina's legs, under the edge of the apron. Regina let them fall open and Emma moved forward, hypnotized by the feeling of Regina's tongue pulling and swirling and sucking at her finger. Regina released the digit with a small pop. She chewed the apple slice in her mouth and swallowed.

"Delicious," she said. She wound her legs around Emma's back as she scooted forward, throwing her arms over the woman's shoulders.

_"Shit."_  Emma thought, wanting desperately, more than anything, to preserve this fantasy. But she couldn't take anything further until she was out with what she had to divulge. She dropped her head. Regina's body sank in response, her legs falling loosely against the counter.

"What's wrong?" She lifted Emma's chin. Emma's fingers toyed with the edge of the apron. Regina blanched. "Did something happen?" Her voice tightened in fear.

"No, not exactly. It's… we should sit somewhere and talk." Emma looked up to meet Regina's eyes with a sad smile.

"So much for surprising you."

Regina couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice nor the fear of what Emma had to say. Emma stepped back and offered a hand to help the woman off the counter, taking her into her arms immediately and brushing stray hairs out of her face.

"That was  _the_  best surprise I've ever had. Ever. I just need to talk with you first. And as tempting as you are right now," Emma leaned in and claimed the woman's lips in a deep kiss before continuing. "I refuse to leave you in the dark."

Regina nodded slowly, untying the apron and tossing it aside. Emma nearly choked on her own tongue at the sight of all that toned, bare skin. The former queen looked back at her companion to see the distracted, gaping expression returned to her features.

Regina smirked. "I guess I'd better put some clothes on."

Emma looked longingly over the lingerie, considering her options. She met Regina's eyes.

"Yeah, you'd better," she sighed dramatically.

* * *

"Damn, these are good!"

Snow was surprised she had it in herself to be amused amidst the chaos of the last week. But she was certainly amused now.

She watched from other side of the kitchen counter as Ruby, perched atop a stool, scarfed down chicken wings with voracity she probably only equaled while in her more canine form. Her friend had bumbled into the apartment a half hour ago, wavering on her feet and muttering bitterly under her breath. Snow had set immediately about preparing something to absorb some of the beer she could smell on the woman's breath before asking her to explain what she was so cross about.

Ruby, between bites of chicken, had laid out Gold's plan for her and Belle in fairly uncertain terms since Ruby had few details herself. They knew Cora's heart would be close by and under some kind of protection, but the precise where and how of its retrieval was still pretty foggy. Gold had said he'd explain more in the morning.

"So I take it you  _aren't_ going to wait it out in the crypt then?" Snow remarked sadly. She had been hoping that as many of her loved ones as possible would choose the safest route. It would have done more for the maintenance of her sanity.

Ruby gave her friend a disgruntled look. "Pffft, are you kidding? And miss out on all of the action? There is no way in hell." She tossed another chicken bone aside and took up a fresh wing.

Snow rolled her eyes affectionately. The comment sounded more like the Ruby of the past 28 years than the gentler Red she'd known in the Enchanted Forest. It had been difficult to reconcile everyone's personalities – including her own – with the ones they'd had before. In some cases, such as Grumpy's, the differences were negligible. In others, such as hers and Red's, it was as if there were two different people, one here and one there. When the curse broke, they were  _still_  those two people, and merging the changes had been hard.

Even though the years hadn't been entirely felt, living as meek little Mary Margaret for all that time still affected her. She was pretty sure she was more  _Snow_ than Mary, but from time to time, that relentless sweetness slipped in to her confident posture and gave her away.

And in Ruby's case, the softer woman she'd been before was at odds with the seductive, coy, brazen woman she'd been in Storybrooke all that time. Ruby seemed to take more kindly to the shift though, merging the personalities easily and often favouring the person she'd been in her cursed state.

"I don't like the idea of Gold sending you two off into the lion's lair to fight his battles." Snow said, returning to the situation at hand.

"I don't like it either, but Belle's dead-set on it and I am  _not_ letting her do it alone." Ruby replied. She had finished the last of her wings and was searching the counter surface for a means of cleaning her disastrously messy hands.

Snow shook her head and smiled, grabbing paper towels from under the sink and passing them to her friend. Ruby took the roll and grinned, exposing a set of teeth marked in streaks of sauce. Snow covered her mouth as she burst into laughter at the sight of a slightly-tipsy, very-silly Ruby. It was nice to remember that in the face of everything she could still laugh.

"Where's James?" Ruby asked as she cleaned herself up, taking much longer to do so than she would sober.

"Henry's room. Probably telling him another story. If you thought he was interested in fairy tales  _before_ , you should see him now that he can ask for the details from the characters themselves."

"Oh he's already interrogated me a few times since the curse broke." Ruby replied. Snow began the task of cleaning up. Ruby watched attentively, unable to move with the delightful weight resting in her stomach. Her mind and attention drifted soon enough, putting Snow in the background of her thoughts. "It's weird." Ruby said suddenly. Snow stopped and fixed the woman with an amused stare.

"What is?" Snow asked.

Ruby looked up at her, focusing her eyes. "We're just characters in someone else's books. How does that even happen? We aren't even that old, the extra time in stasis aside."

Snow nodded slowly. She too had been considering their fictional existence. How did their lives, their  _factual_  stories, end up as works of fiction in this world?

"It  _is_ strange, I'll give you that. But I was thinking – some of the tales from  _our_ world seem similar to  _real_  ones here. Like… did you ever hear the story of Mohandas?" She looked up for a moment, conjuring the words of the old tale to her mind. "Who hungered for peace and used his hunger as his tool rather than stoop to any weapon."

Ruby racked her brain. She hadn't exactly been a scholar during her time in Storybrooke. Then the fog of alcohol cleared for a moment and she smiled at Snow. "It's Gandhi, isn't it?"

Snow beamed and nodded. "I think so, yeah. It was just a story in our land, but here – it actually  _happened._  And Alice in Wonderland? I remember hearing a similar story when I was a little girl. Maybe everyone's story is a fairytale somewhere else. Maybe we're all someone's story."

Ruby's eyebrows where fixed to her hairline as she tried to follow Snow's words. She nodded slowly, struggling to comprehend.

"Whoa. That's some deep stuff, your Highness."

Snow reached over the counter and punched her friend playfully in the arm.

"All right, all right!" Ruby said through a grin, rubbing her arm as if she'd suffered a great wound. She pitched herself off of the stool and made her way over to Snow's couch, where she'd been planning to crash for the night. She collapsed onto it and patted the seat next to her, indicating Snow should join her while she was still conscious enough to chat.

Snow narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the invitation, but followed suit and plopped down next to her. For a moment she waited, heaving a sigh as she stared straight ahead. Then she ventured a glance over to the wolfish grin that was being directed at her.

"What?" Snow asked, a smile tugging at her own mouth.

"How's it going?" Ruby asked, all manner of mischief in her eyes.

"You're going to have to be more specific." Snow deadpanned.

"How are you doing with the idea of being mother-in-law to your ex-stepmom?" Ruby asked brightly, holding back her own laughter.

Snow's mouth fell open at the question, her face turning a violent shade of red. Ruby's giggling burst out at the change in colour.

"Shut UP!" Snow said, trying to keep a straight face. Ruby's amusement was often contagious, no matter how unfunny the topic seemed at first. "They haven't been together  _that_  long!" Snow said. She wrinkled her nose even as a smile slipped into her face. She wasn't all that perturbed by the question, more by how it was stated. She'd winced a little when she'd heard the term "ex-stepmom."

"Yeah," Ruby said, assuming some control over herself. "But, you know. It seems pretty serious between those two. Must be a bit awkward for you."

Snow sighed as she let her head fall back against the couch cushion. "It is. There's part of me that is appalled that I'm letting them carry on unsupervised in Regina's mansion. That part of me thinks I must be crazy for giving Regina another chance. But there are other parts… Like the one that balks at how absurd "letting them carry on" sounds. As if I should be allowed to control my adult daughter's life at all." She turned to face Ruby, who had become more solemn. Snow continued. "And then there's the part that thinks maybe those other chances I tried to give Regina weren't really chances at all because she had no one to love her, not really. Her father was there, but… I don't think he really fought for her. But Emma…" Snow drifted off.

"She  _fights_  for her." Ruby finished.

Snow nodded. "And  _with_  her," she added with a small smirk. "But, yes. They certainly seem  _serious_  about the whole thing, so there's not much I can do."

"Sure there is. You've been doing it. You're being a good mom, letting Emma make her own choices. Whether those end up as mistakes or not, that's something she'll figure out for herself." Ruby said.

Snow grinned at her. "Wow. That's pretty deep right there." She mimicked. "Especially for a drunk."

Ruby gawked. "I'm not  _that_  drunk." Snow leveled a motherly look at her. "Okay," Ruby said, letting her head fall back against the couch. "Maybe I'm a  _little_ drunk. Now would you go get me a pillow and blanket so I can sleep this off? Please?" She asked sweetly and batted her eyes.

Snow raised herself off the couch and did just that.

Ruby was fading slightly when she returned. Her face had lost its intoxicated glow and was instead pale and hollowed. Snow sat down next to her, handing over the sleeping materials she'd amassed.

"What is it?"

Ruby blinked at her for a few seconds, collecting her thoughts.

"Does it feel like everything is coming to an end to you? Like, I don't know. Things are more at stake now."

Snow nodded slowly. "I know what you mean. But we aren't going to fail. Nothing is going to end."

"How can you be so sure?"

Snow smiled, every bit as brightly as she could muster.

"Because I know my friends and family. I know how strong they are. Love is stronger than anything, in any world. How much trouble can a woman without her heart be to so many with theirs?"

* * *

The Saviour and the Evil Queen sat in bed together, Regina in an oversized t-shirt tossed over her underwear, Emma holding her hand tightly. The blonde divulged the details slowly, hoping Regina would understand that what Gold had proposed was likely their only option.

"He could be lying." Regina said without any real conviction.

Emma nodded. "He could be. Do you think he is?" She added.

"He plotted the entire path of my life to find his son. He wouldn't risk his plans falling apart now. But I'm not sure what that means for us." Regina sighed. "Besides which, I kept Belle from him for a very long time. How do I know he doesn't want revenge?"

"We don't know. We can't." Emma said.

Regina nodded. "When the time comes," she dropped her eyes to the bed and a hard edge curled into her voice, "I'll give my mother back her heart."

"No."

"No?" Regina's voice raised, the fire returned. She dropped Emma's hand.

"I'll do it." Emma said.

"Absolutely not."

"Regina, I am  _not_ going to make you kill your own mother! That's about the most fucked up ending I can imagine."

"And you think I'd let  _you_ darken your heart for something I thought I'd done already?" Regina had shifted from the bed, standing to her feet and crossing her arms.

"Sending Hook to assassinate her is not the same as putting a killer heart in her chest!" Emma was beginning to lose patience, but she kept her tone reasonable. "Look, I'm the Saviour, right? So let me do this so you don't have to. Please." She shuffled to the edge of the bed and reached for Regina's hand again.

For a moment, Emma thought she'd won her over. Then Regina wrenched her hand away and disappeared into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.

_"Oh, goddamnit."_ Emma thought. They'd just made up and they were already fighting again. But then, she knew it would always be this way. Part of her didn't mind the fighting at all since it led to the best making-up she'd ever experience in her life.

She got up and leaned against the bathroom doorframe.

"I know you're scared. You can shut me out, scream at me, fight me all you want. But we have to do this right. Nothing is the neat, little, fairy tale people expect. We know that better than anyone. I just want to do as much as I can, and I  _can_ do this."

She heard the lock free on the door, but she made no move to open it.

"At some point we have to face up to what really scares us. But we don't have to do it alone."

Emma waited for some response, for another argument or rebuttal. The bathroom door opened slightly, tentatively, then a little wider, exposing Regina's lightly shaking form. She was certainly afraid. Her eyes swept up to meet Emma's.

"Then we do it together. I will return her heart. You will be there with me when I do." Regina said firmly. She didn't say,  _so that I won't break_ , but Emma heard that part anyway.

Knowing that this would be the best deal she'd drag out of her, Emma nodded.

"Will you come back to bed?"

Regina stepped forward in response, allowing herself to be led. But Emma didn't take her far, merely pulled the woman into her arms, into the place that was feeling more and more like home with each passing day. Regina's hold tightened as it wore on, the familiar unwillingness to lose what she held most dear coiling tightly in her stomach.

"Thank you," Regina said into Emma's hair, thinking maybe she hadn't been heard.

"You don't have to thank me." Emma said, pulling back in her arms, gazing over Regina's features.

"Yes. I do. For everything. For waking me up, for reminding me what it's like to live, for making me a  _better_  mother. For believing in me. For bringing my son – _our_ son back to me. For  _everything_."

"Even the fighting?" Emma asked, a small smirk on her face.

Regina grinned. " _Especially_  the fighting," she said. "You made me feel something  _real_  for the first time in so long. You made me remember what I'd been. And then you helped me become who I am."

" _You_  helped you. I'm just glad I was there along the way to see it." Emma dragged her finger along the firm line of Regina's jaw, resting it under her chin. "So this means I'm what, your Princess Charming?"

Regina rolled her eyes and buried her face in Emma's chest. "Why do you always have to ruin a moment?"

"Hey, you know I'm not the sentimental type," Emma chuckled.

Regina's head tilted to the side, her lips brushing against Emma's neck. "I know you like to  _pretend_  you aren't." She kissed the neck beneath her lips, laving the skin with her tongue.

Emma sighed at the feeling, returning to her earlier arousal instantly. Her hands began on instinct, roaming over the t-shirt, clutching at the body beneath.

"You never got your reward," Regina's voice was low and growling, an animal at Emma's neck. She sank her teeth into Emma's skin and Emma's hands tightened on her body.

As soon as Regina's teeth lifted, Emma pulled the woman's face to hers, crushing their mouths together. They kissed chaotically, unable to press together enough to sate their collective appetite. Regina pushed her backwards to the bed, pinning her easily; Emma's hands above her head, her hips cemented under Regina's.

Emma broke away from the woman's lips. "You always have to be on top, don't you?" Emma said with a grin.

Regina grinned back. "Your complaint has been filed and will be considered later." Regina fixed her mouth to Emma's chest, leaving wet kisses over every inch of her collar bone.

"Who said I was complaining?" Emma groaned, her hips rising up a little against their pleasant captor.

Regina slammed her body back down against the movement, resulting in a wave of pleasure for them both. Then she leaned up carefully pulling her t-shirt up and over her head, casting it across the room. Emma took more than an eyeful of Regina's body in the lingerie that had been waiting for her. The small, perfect breasts heaved upward in the black bra, the barely-there bikini-underwear that was lacy enough to tease what was underneath. Her hands, now free to roam, did just that. She brushed her palms over Regina's stomach, feeling the muscles tense and relax under her touch.

Regina went to work on Emma's jeans, pulling the zipper slowly, bumping the heat underneath on purpose, before stepping off the bed and pulling the pants down the long legs, Emma lifting her body to assist in what she knew from experience was a difficult process. She pulled her own shirt off when Regina was done, each of them now dressed only in undergarments.

Regina stepped forward as Emma sat up at the edge of the mattress, pulling the woman into her. Regina raised the unmistakable Charming chin up so they could lock eyes. She thought to say something. To articulate the feeling rising in her chest ever since they first kissed. But she was at a loss, left in wonder by the blonde looking up expectantly, vulnerably at her.

She dragged her finger over Emma's bottom lip and then replaced the finger with her mouth, moving slowly, longingly, making sure that even without words, Emma could hear her.

She felt long fingers unclasp the bra at her back and she grinned against the cocky mouth. She divested herself of the bra without pulling away, shuffling her arms a little awkwardly to keep the contact.

Emma began to move backwards onto the bed, adjusting herself and pulling Regina along with her, this time flipping them so she was above the brunette. She fell into her, rolling their bodies together, their legs delightfully intertwined. She moaned into her mouth when her centre hit Regina's thigh at a particular angle.

Emma reached one hand down, skimming over Regina's stomach and slipping her fingers under the fabric and into slick warmth. Regina, not wanting to be outdone, did the same, sliding her own hand into Emma's underwear and moving her hand in circles similar to Emma's own workings.

Emma broke the kiss smirking down at her Queen, as they matched each other's pace, moving hands and hips in tandem, increasing pressure. Emma shivered slightly and Regina gasped; their breathing and shifting bodies against the sheets were the only soundtracks of the room. Lost in their deadlocked stare, curtained in blonde waves of hair, they registered every sensation of one another's capable fingers, picking up their speed, as if racing each other.

Then Emma's body wracked forward; she took in sporadic intakes of air, as she bucked hard against Regina's hand. When she assumed control of her body again, she moved her hand deftly against Regina's centre, hoping to bring her to the same pleasant place. It didn't take long for Regina to join in, moaning as her head crashed backwards into the pillow, her body tensing and releasing several times before letting go. Emma pulled her hand up to her mouth and drank the product of her reward.

Regina watched in rapture until the work was done, then pushed Emma over, onto her back, relishing in the surprise on her face.

The Queen reached under the woman's body to unhook her bra and rid it from her quickly. She did the same with both pairs of underwear, tossing every article onto the floor. She raked her nails over Emma's skin, leaving red marks up and down her legs, her stomach, her chest, before roughly pushing one of Emma's legs up against her chest. Emma held her it there, intrigued by what plans were being hatched.

Regina sat back to assess the woman, grinning mischievously. She moved on top of her, lining up their centres and putting a hand against the headboard to support herself. Emma gasped at the feeling. Then Regina's hips began a slow rocking motion and Emma was overwhelmed.

The image of the brunette, looking as powerful as ever, writhing and smiling above her, was enough to make Emma moan in itself. But the feeling of them pressed together, their hardened clits bumping at each pass, was intoxicating. Emma was fairly certain she'd drown in it.

Regina was careful in her movements. Practiced and methodical and glorious. Her free hand reached down to massage Emma's breasts, as much a means of arousing her partner as feeding her own desire. Regina's hips lost a bit of their method as she moved harder, bringing them both closer with every thrust. She could feel the need rising within her and she fell forward slightly, her hand slipping from the headboard. Emma took advantage and pulled the woman down on top of her, pressing their bodies together again and moving her own hips towards Regina's in sync.

"Oh god," Regina groaned close to Emma's ear. In three more moves, Regina came undone, her muscles shaking, her entire body filled with contentment. Emma held the woman and soothed her tensing back, easing her all the way down.

Finally Regina sank beside her, their legs easily tangling, every limb finding a place. Emma reached a hand to push the comforter down then pull it up over them just slightly, aware that they were both too warm right now to cover completely.

Regina stroked the matted blonde hair out of Emma's eyes. She leaned forward for a gentle kiss and then settled into her arms, submitting to the exhaustion of a long day, knowing full-well that an even longer one lay ahead.

* * *

That night, the heads of Storybrooke's citizens fell heavier than ever. It was a collective weariness, as if a haze had enshrouded the town.

Regina stirred only at the buzzing of her phone on the bedside table. She mumbled incoherent curses as she pulled herself from the Saviour's arms. She stretched her back and took a longing look at the drowsy form beside her before lifting herself reluctantly from bed. She grabbed her robe and threw it on, only then answering her incessantly ringing phone.

"Hello?" She said, her voice still thick with sleep.

"You might want to look outside."

"Gold, it's still dark out. What do you want and why can't it wait till morning?" She folded her free arm over her chest.

"It's after 7 am, your highness. It should not  _be_  dark out."

Regina paled, stepping towards the window and pulling the curtain aside.

Emma stirred. "'Gina? What are you doing?"

Regina nearly dropped the phone when she looked out of her window.

Emma peeked over the cover to spy what was happening in their dim bedroom. She strained her eyes and made out the terrified expression on Regina's face. She launched to her feet and to the woman's side, taking a look out the window herself. She swallowed hard.

"I guess that means it's time."

"Yes, I suppose it does." She said, covering the phone momentarily. Her tone was the same icy temperature as her skin.

Where Storybrooke's sky should have been bright and blue, there was a swirling miasma of reddish black, a thick cloud that bore over the entire town.

Regina returned to the phone. "I suggest you prepare Ruby and Belle. They should set out immediately. We'll be making our way to the crypt as soon as we can get everything organized."

She hung up the phone when Gold responded, though she barely heard the words. Emma took the cell from her hand and set it down. She took Regina gently into her arms to ground the woman, to remind her of what she had to hold onto. Regina's limbs hung loosely at first, but she eventually returned the embrace.

"It's okay." Emma soothed. "It's okay to be afraid. Just  _use_ it."

Regina nodded against the woman. She chuckled, finding it oddly humbling how easily Emma could calm her even though Regina had lived twice as long.

Emma pulled back in her arms. "Did I say something funny? I was trying to be serious for once."

"You were doing a remarkably good job, actually. I was just pleasantly impressed."

Emma grinned and pressed her lips to Regina's. "Good answer," she mumbled against her mouth.

Regina smiled then cast another glance outside. "Call your mother. Ask that she starts coordinating everyone. We have to prepare."

* * *

Snow rushed about the apartment quicker than she had in her whole life, or at least since she'd been a fugitive in the Enchanted Forest. And she was twice as nervous as she'd been during those years on the run.

She'd made all her calls already, starting the telephone tree that would branch out across the town. Now she was trying to get herself, her husband, her grandson, and a slightly hungover Ruby ready to meet the darkened day. Thankfully, the sight outside had sobered and wakened everyone rather quickly. Even Henry had his things together and was helping her pack the last of the supplies to send off to the crypt.

They were meeting there in less than an hour and she'd never felt so on edge in her life. When a knock came at the front door, she nearly upended a box full of canned food. She steadied herself again and crossed to the door frantically.

She opened slightly it to find Regina, looking just as pale as she was. Snow offered her a meager smile.

"Snow," Regina said as greeting, stumbling around the name nervously. Snow opened the door a little wider, suddenly more concerned.

"Is Emma all right?" Snow asked.

"Yes, she's fine. Just waiting downstairs in the car. We're heading to the crypt early to start on the wards, but I wanted to take Henry with us." Regina said, her eyes drifting affectionately to the boy packing supplies in the kitchen. She returned her gaze to Snow. "If you don't mind."

Snow's eyebrows lifted at the last, a little dumbfounded that the former-mayor was so willing to check with how she felt.

"Mom!" Henry had finally registered who was at the door and came rushing past Snow to fling himself in his mother's willing arms. Regina's eyes closed as she held her son tightly to her, reverently stroking his hair. She looked to Snow for confirmation and the woman was floored again.

"Y-yeah, of course that's fine. We'll meet you there in a half hour."

Regina's face lit up with the warmest smile Snow had ever seen her wear.

"Thank you," the older woman said. She took her son's hand and led him down the stairs, leaving Snow still standing in her doorway. She smiled gently to herself when she closed the door, feeling more than ever that Regina really had deserved her chance. That she truly was becoming better for herself and those she loved.

She thought of something and chided herself for her forgetfulness as she went searching for her phone. She hit the speed dial to save time.

"Hello?" Emma's voice was clear and calm.

"Emma! Hi, I forgot to mention, but Henry left his backpack behind."

There was a beat on the other end of the line.

"Uhhh, I don't  _think_  he left it here, but I can look around."

"No, it's  _here_. With me. I meant to send it with Regina just now, but I guess I was just too caught up to remember. I can bring it with me when we meet up."

"What are you talking about?" Emma's voice had lost its calm. "Regina's right here."

Snow's face dropped, her fingers shaking. "But she… came to pick up Henry." The words fell out of her lips of their own accord but her mind was racing. She put her hand to her mouth, realizing too late what she'd done, what had happened in her own doorway.

Over the phone she heard a crash, likely Emma's phone hitting the ground. Try as she might Snow couldn't drop her own. She could only wait, completely still, and listen to the painful silence on the other end of the line, then the sound of Regina's voice, eerie and faraway, drifting through the receiver.

"Emma, what's wrong?" She heard Regina say.

Then Emma's voice. "Cora. She has Henry."


	10. Chapter 10

_"I meant to send it with Regina just now, but I guess I was just too caught up to remember. I can bring it with me when we meet up." Snow said.  
"What are you talking about?" Emma's voice had lost its calm. "Regina's right here."_

_"Emma, what's wrong?" Snow heard Regina say._   
_Then Emma's voice. "Cora. She has Henry."_

* * *

Emma felt as though the air wasn't moving around her. Like every particle of it was stuck still, all of it solid, so that she too was rendered immobile against it.

She knew that reasonably the knowledge of Henry's current captor – a matriarch so brutal and insane she'd been a harbinger of evil most her life – should have spurred her on, pressed her into action. But she couldn't move.

Her phone was still on the floor where she'd dropped it. She could hear the frantic screeches of Snow's voice through the receiver, as if it were a voice bleeding in from a television left on in another room. Emma's eyes were stuck on the door Regina had left through.

Of course it wasn't the air that was really holding her down. It was the doubt. If Cora had Henry… scratch that: Cora  _had_  Henry and without his safety insured, Emma could only feel a bitter uneasiness sit deep in every bone.

It wasn't until she heard the sound of running water that her fixation broke. She turned towards the sound briefly – in the direction of the kitchen. She raised herself from the couch, picked up her phone from the floor, and muttered something to Snow, managed something about still meeting at the crypt before hanging up abruptly.

She left the cell on the coffee table to buzz with further messages before she let herself into the kitchen. She froze again two paces past the door.

Regina had her back to her. She was standing at the sink, running a soapy sponge over a plate under water that was steaming enough to scald. She didn't seem to care. Her movements were stilted, nearly robotic. Something about the triviality of it, the absurdity of it, made Emma seethe automatically.

"What are you doing?!" Emma croaked out, her voice shrill and thick with imminent sobs of fear and fury. Regina didn't pause or flinch, merely maintaining her methodical cleaning. "Regina, LOOK AT ME." And even when she didn't, Emma continued. "How can you stand there and wash dishes while that psycho has our SON?!" Emma's entire body was thrumming and hot. She felt sick.

Regina's muscles stiffened further. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and cold, full of an icy temper that beat Emma's tenfold. Emma felt her body temperature drop.

"I am trying. To do something that will calm me. And  _you_  are not helping." Her voice was almost a growl. Emma's eyes widened as she noticed a deep purple glow begin to emanate from the woman's form. It shifted from and began to move and grow, sprouting into eager, violet flames licking up her sides.

Emma realized her mistake too late. She imagined this was part of Cora's plan all along: watching their movements closely, choosing a time when Henry was in Snow's care, forcing Regina to an all-too-familiar precipice. And Emma had done nothing to control her own anger, feeding into the pain that Regina herself was trying to overpower. Emma had goaded her. When she spoke again, her voice was weak.

"Regina, I didn't mean to–"

"None of your blood ever  _means_  to do anything wrong. That's the problem, isn't it, dear?" The brunette finally turned towards her, her eyes appeared almost black, the fire she was producing enshrouded her like a cocoon. Emma could feel the heat billowing from her in waves and took a step back.

"You think because your intentions are so pure, you must always be doing the right thing. But the truth is your intentions blind you to what the consequences of your actions will be."

Into every syllable, Regina poured her fury, and Emma had no doubt that this was the legendary Evil Queen she'd only glimpsed until now - the one who cast curses and burned villages and ripped beating hearts from their homes.

Regina took two slow steps towards the blonde, grinning madly, eyes glittering. Emma – in a half-hearted response she would have thought better of had she the clarity – stepped forward too, reaching her hand out towards Regina, into the edge of the flames, only to pull it back just as quickly, cradling the burned limb. Regina didn't flinch at the accompanying cry of pain. She only moved forward to close the distance herself.

There was a moment in which Emma thought that this was how she would die, caught in the all-encompassing inferno that was, and truly always would be, Regina. But the moment was fleeting, overwhelmed by the sudden realization that Emma could not let her destroy them without a fight. She wouldn't allow it because she knew that what she felt, what they felt, was stronger than anger. It was stronger than anything.

Emma's magic rose up immediately, a wave bursting outwards in all directions from the very core of her. She gasped at the scorching sensation, this time of her own magic enveloping her fully – a bright blue shell of light that filled her in and outwards, mimicking Regina's.

Newly equipped, Emma stepped towards the purple inferno and its host, unafraid, unburned and unharmed this time. She pinned Regina's arms to her sides in a brutal embrace.

The energy around them combined and roared higher, seeming as though it would not die at all, only grow and consume first the room around them, then the house and the entire town.

But finally, gradually, the magic began to subside, lapping lower and lower until it faded completely. The only sounds in the room were the tired, rasping breaths of both women as they gripped each other painfully tight.

"We're going to get him back," Emma managed between breaths. Regina's fingers clenched against her back a little harder.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I'm trying." Regina murmured.

"It's okay. We're going to get him back."

They stayed that way for another long minute until Emma pulled back in the woman's rigid arms.

"I shouldn't have made it worse. I know you're scared and angry and so am I. But I shouldn't have made it worse."

"It's not your fault." Regina said sadly, ashamed that Emma was taking the blame for her outburst.

Emma shook her head. "No, it's Cora's fault. But I wasn't thinking." She tucked a piece of Regina's hair behind her ear and sighed. "I know you don't want to think about it right now, but I need to know: is she going to kill him?"

"No." Regina answered immediately. "She's not."

Emma paused, hating the way Regina's face contorted at the thoughts currently spinning in her head. She waited for Regina's continuation.

"She's going to use him. And before you ask, I don't know how. But that is what she does. She will use him against us somehow. And it will be the most difficult thing either of us will ever face, that I can guarantee."

Emma took in the way the woman faltered and her heart clenched in her chest. She reached both hands up and held Regina's cheeks gently, suddenly spurred by a need to comfort her.

"You are strong, Regina.  _We_  are strong. And the thing I know more than anything, the thing I am sure of, is that we will save our son." Emma waited until Regina's wet eyes swept up to meet hers. "Right?" Regina asked.

Regina closed her eyes and nodded. Emma leaned forward and kissed her forehead before tugging her in for a tight hug.

"Soon this will be just another story. I promise." Emma said softly. She didn't know if she was saying it more for Regina or for herself. Perhaps it was both. Either way, whatever was to come, they would face it together. And that was comfort enough to make Emma feel strong. It was the purest determination she'd felt in her entire life.

Regina eased back to look in Emma's eyes. "You really believe in me."

"I do."

There was another declaration on the tip of Emma's tongue, one she'd been struggling to keep suppressed, one she thought once that she would never say to anyone again. She wasn't sure she even remembered how to form the words anymore for anyone who wasn't her son. And even saying those words to him had been strange at first.

Regina interrupted her thoughts before she could gather them enough to speak. She pulled away from Emma, taking her hand.

"We should get going. They'll be waiting for us at the crypt by now."

Emma gave a sad half smile as she felt like she'd missed the window where opportunity and courage were great enough to force her admission. She nodded at the woman and followed suit as she prepared to leave.

* * *

"Mr. Gold?" Ruby's voice echoed through the dimly lit shop as she stood at the entrance. As much as she loathed the idea of entering without Belle by her side, she'd grown impatient waiting for her friend to show up and meet her. Not to mention it was getting too cold without the usual sunshine. She glanced out at the swirling mass of black and red in the sky before stepping all the way into the pawn shop, shutting the door behind her.

"Hello?" She called out again, crossing her arms and feeling sufficiently creeped out by the vacant storefront. She stepped up cautiously to the centremost counter, her attention caught by a strange, empty globe. She reached out a shaky hand towards the spindle at its top, oddly fascinated by the shining point.

The front door swung open abruptly; Ruby's hand shot back to her as she turned around, her heart beating hard.

"My god, it's  _frigid_  out there!" Belle said, shutting the door.

"Yeah," Ruby said, trying to regain her composure. "I figured I'd wait for you inside. Bit better in here."  _Not much,_ she though miserably, still wary and uneasy about the whole venture.

"Cora does have quite a way of capturing everyone's attention. When she chooses." Gold said, sidling in from the back room, causing Ruby to jump again and draw closer to Belle. She wondered if he'd been there the whole time, ignoring her until their mutual ally was in the room.  _Smart move._

"I guess that's where Regina gets it then," Ruby muttered. "Anyway, what's the plan? Why are we here instead of out looking for the heart?"

"The  _plan_  involves a little more tact than just that," Gold said somewhat bitterly, drawing an eye-roll from Ruby. He stepped behind a counter to his right and pulled out two wooden cases, setting them each on top of the glass. He spun the first box around to open it towards Belle and Ruby.

The two women stepped closer automatically and turned their attention to its content: a large silver gauntlet, impeccably made and gleaming as it caught the light.

"It used to be part of a set, but I regrettably lost its pair. Thankfully, you should only need one."

"What does it do?" Belle asked, her curiosity alight.

"It was made to handle a very powerful weapon. As such, it can withstand much and protect the user from many kinds of magic. Cora will likely have her heart closely guarded. This should help you in procuring it safely."

"It  _should_  help?" Ruby asked incredulously.

Gold seethed a little. "Well, one can never be too sure in this world what will and won't work. But I am reasonably sure. I can't assuage your fears any more than that without lying." He finished with a pointed glare. Belle reached out a hand to Ruby's arm and gripped it meaningfully, catching her eye and willing her to remain calm.

Belle removed the gauntlet from its box and put it clumsily onto her hand, admiring the metalwork from all angles. Soon after she'd done so, it seemed to mould to her hand, fitting it snugly. It no longer felt so heavy, instead feeling as though it were simply an extension of her fingers.

"And I have something for you as well, Miss Lucas." Gold turned the other case around in the same way as the first, opening it towards them. In it was a long dagger with a bright white hilt.

"And what does this one do?" Ruby asked, failing to keep some bitterness from her voice.

"It kills." Gold replied flatly. "My hope is that you won't need it, but in any case, you will take it in the event that you do. Its influence makes you somewhat harder to detect, but beyond that it is relatively plain. Although it did kill a witch once. Should you need it, perhaps it will do so again."

Ruby took the dagger, unsheathing it and learning its weight. She'd learned a few things from Granny and Snow in the days when she'd needed protection. She figured she'd be able to wield it reasonably.

She restored it to its scabbard and hooked it to her belt.

"So where are we supposed to start looking?" Ruby asked, anxious to get out of the shop as soon as possible.

Gold smiled wanly and backed away from the counter, moving to retrieve something else, this time a small scrap of red fabric. "You still have your senses, don't you, wolf?"

"I have a name." Ruby growled.

"Rumple," Belle admonished, shooting him a pleading glance.

Gold put his hand up in surrender. "All I mean is that your sense of smell, your ability to track, it has returned to you, yes?"

"Yeah," Ruby replied warily.

"Will you be able to trace this?" He handed the scrap out to her – a piece of Cora's cloak he'd removed by magic during their last meeting. She took it and trained her eyes on him as she brought it near her nose and sniffed lightly.

She sighed. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Then I was correct in choosing you for the task. With your combined cleverness, I'm sure you'll be able to find it promptly." He replied.

Ruby scoffed at what almost sounded like a compliment.

Gold ignored her and came round to Belle's side, he pulled her closer to him. Ruby saw the move for what it was and wandered to the other side of the shop to give the couple a moment.

Gold smiled sadly at Belle. "You are the most precious thing in the world to me. I do not wish to lose you."

Belle clutched his hand with her bare fingers. "You won't. Please tell me you'll be careful too?"

He smiled a little wider. "I will try."

"Why is it you can't come with us anyway? Where will you be?" Ruby asked, unable to mask her suspicion.

"I will be here. Waiting." Gold answered automatically, never taking his eyes off of Belle's face. Belle's smile faded. She already knew the answer to Ruby's next question.

"Waiting to what?" Ruby asked.

"To settle old debts."

* * *

It was strange to see the cemetery so full of life. It had never held so many of the town's inhabitants at once. The crowd was shifting uncomfortably, speaking in low murmurs as they stood and sat all over the grounds, leaning on tombstones and fidgeting, obviously perturbed.

Emma and Regina watched briefly from the car. Emma could tell the other woman was afraid to face them all again so soon after the meeting in town hall. She reached for her hand and took it firmly.

"It's going to be okay. We'll just get them in there, put up the wards, and then worry about more important things." Emma said, making sure she caught the woman's eyes.

Regina nodded and gave a weak smile. She took a deep breath, assumed her most graceful posture, and stepped out of the car. They walked side by side into the fray, unable to ignore the silence that washed over the crowd as they passed through it, making their way towards the entrance to the crypt. Regina avoided the sea of terrified gazes, feeling as though she could combust under their scrutiny.

Snow and James were in sight of them now, each wearing sombre expressions. Snow's eyes were puffy and wet and she couldn't meet Regina's gaze. Which was just as well. Regina was doing her best not to look at her.

"Hey," Emma said quietly when they were finally within a few steps of each other. James gave her a pained smile and Snow simply nodded her head.

"I am so, so sorry." Snow blurted out, her eyes threatening to overflow with fresh tears.

"Don't apologize," Regina said before Emma could respond. The three Charmings looked at her in shock as she continued. "We can't change what happened. We  _will_  save him. That's all there is to it."

 _We will save him._ Regina repeated the mantra in her own head, over and over as she had been since the incident in the kitchen. Emma squeezed her hand and smiled in appreciation and pride.

"So," Emma continued a little awkwardly, turning to Regina. "How do we do this?"

Regina side-stepped the Charmings and put her hand to the door of the crypt. "I'll show you the place I have in mind. You can lead everyone inside once it's open. I have the feeling my presence still isn't very reassuring to most."

Emma nodded and followed as Regina descended.

She revealed the hidden entrance to what looked like an underground great hall, causing Emma to blink in disbelief for a second before she realized nothing Regina did should surprise her anymore.

The whole process didn't take too long. The townsfolk were anxious to get into the hideaway and followed instructions promptly, filing into the room and filling it, unpacking their sleeping bags and supplies as they went. Regina skulked down the hallway from the entrance, huddled away from view. She'd thought she'd stayed entirely unnoticed until she heard footsteps approaching her instead of moving in the direction of the hall. She spun around, to meet the owner and was thrown a little when she was met by Kathryn, looking oddly soft and light.

"Regina. I just wanted to say thank you. You should know that there are a surprising number of us who are honestly grateful for your protection." She flashed a genuine smile and before Regina had a chance to speak – which would have been a feat since she was at a considerable loss – Kathryn folded her into a firm hug. At first Regina was stiff in her arms, but soon she hesitantly returned the embrace, letting her body relax a little.

When she pulled back she gave Kathryn a reassuring smile. "It is the least I can do. Truly."

Kathryn smiled wider, giving a little nod as she turned to leave.

"Kathryn?" Regina's voice halted the woman in her tracks. Regina was thankful that she still responded kindly to her cursed name.

"Yes?"

"Please… make sure everyone is… comfortable." Regina said, unable to suppress her inner politician. The remark made Kathryn smile again.

"Will do."

* * *

Snow and David stood back from the crypt as Regina and Emma worked. They had completed a basic ward on the concealed door to the hall and were starting to coat the crypt itself in multiple walls of magic. It was no small feat since they'd been already somewhat drained that morning, emotionally and magically. After a few moments of discomfort, Regina glanced in the direction of the Charmings very briefly before taking Emma's hand in hers.

Snow watched as they exchanged words quietly, Emma also offering a quick glance back at her parents. Emma gave them a smile before she returned her attention to Regina and turned very serious. She leaned in and placed a long, gentle kiss against Regina's lips.

Snow and James had the good grace to turn away a little, wondering if perhaps this might not be the best time for a makeout session, but when Snow turned back she noticed that Emma and Regina's magic had flared, grown stronger from their embrace. The remaining wards went up easily, spreading out over the grounds and flashing in a bright purplish light.

Emma's parents exchanged a look of understanding. It was a prideful moment, albeit a confusing one: knowing their daughter had found something truly powerful, something good, even if it was with the woman who'd been the source of their misery for such a long time.

The moment of pride was fleeting: interrupted by shrill laughter that sent a chill through each of them.

"Oh, look at that! She's taught her dog some tricks! How adorable."

They turned to face Cora, who was resting against a tombstone, looking far too at ease surrounded by death. She clapped her hands together and rested them in her lap as she grinned. She pinned Regina with her gaze, delighting in her daughter's obvious anger.

"And here I thought the little harlot could only manage parlour tricks. My, but you have been busy, Regina."

Cora refocused her attention. "And, Snow! I'm surprised you're so willing to let your daughter gallivant around with the Evil Queen and be  _corrupted_  by her dark magic. But then you've never been very good at holding on to the things you love, have you, child?"

Snow's face darkened at the comment. Emma and Regina stepped up alongside the other couple.

"Where is Henry?" Emma barked furiously.

"Uh-uh-uh." Cora chastised, wagging a finger. "Not just yet. I have so much planned for you, dear. Aren't you curious?"

Regina erupted. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH OUR SON?"

Cora didn't flinch at the raised voice, instead choosing to study her fingernails. "Oh,  _our_  son, is it?" She looked Emma in the eye. "That's precious. You know what my daughter will do if she has him back? She'll take him far, far away from you if she has any sense. It's clear that no one  _else_  has the aptitude to care for him."

Snow blanched. Regina shook with rage.

"But we're getting ahead of ourselves. I think now it's time we have a demonstration of those new tricks. And of your devotion. What would you all do for the Evil Queen?" Cora lifted her palms up in question. She stood to her feet, clasping her hands and shooting one last grin at Regina. "Good luck, dear."

With her final words, Cora disappeared in a plume of black smoke.

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Emma asked after a few moments of silence.

"Lord if I know," James muttered, unsheathing his sword. "But I would guess it's not good."

"Oh is that what you would guess, Charming?" Regina quipped, unable to stop herself. "Sorry. Force of habit."

He nodded and fell into a prepared stance. "No harm done."

Snow followed suit and readied her bow, followed shortly by Emma with her own sword.

"Well  _that_  isn't foreboding at all," Emma muttered as they caught sight of what she meant. A wave of thick, white fog rolled into the cemetery, considerably cutting their line of sight off. The four of them shifted uneasily.

"She really does have a flair for the dramatic, doesn't she." Snow said. "How long do you think we'll have to–"

"Quiet!" Regina hissed, cutting her off. "Listen."

They quirked their ears and at first didn't sense what Regina had. Then they heard it: footsteps. Coming from multiple directions. The group stiffened and raised their weapons. Regina lifted her hands, ready to conjure whatever was required.

The first form that stepped within view in the fog was shambling slightly, clearly not a human in full power of their capacity. After a few more steps, the features were easier to make out.

"Archie?" Snow's voice was weak. Her bow faltered. She shook her head. They'd just seen Archie step into the crypt a half hour ago.

Regina raised a hand in his direction, tilting her head and assessing him.

"It's not him, Snow. She's glamoured a corpse to look like him; it is  _not_ him."

"Oh, come on. Zombies? Again?! You have got to be fucking kidding me." Emma gripped her sword a little tighter.

Snow gulped and raised her bow again, steadying it as best she could in shaking hands.

"Kathryn," James said in a choked whisper. The other three followed his gaze to their right, where a similarly shambling form appeared in the fog, wearing the visage of none other than Princess Abigail.

Regina searched around warily as they all backed up slightly, staying grouped together but moving backwards from the advancing bodies.

Then Emma noticed Regina's cheeks had grown too pallid for her complexion. "Regina?"

The woman had stopped moving, dropping her hands to her sides, and was staring straight ahead where another form stepped into view.

Emma followed the gaze. Regina's reaction and the man's strange clothes tole Emma she was seeing Regina's long lost fiancée. She looked at Regina again. "Just a glamour, right?"

Regina nodded. "Y-yes." Still, she couldn't stop the tears welling up. She raised her hands again, directing them towards the man that wore her lost love's face. "We have to dispatch them. Quickly. There may be more."

David raised his sword in Kathryn's direction. Snow let an arrow fly – it hit the thing that looked like Archie squarely in the chest. He halted briefly, looked down at the protruding arrow, then back up, resuming a quicker pace towards the group.

"Easier said than done." Snow said.

David took several steps closer to his opponent and faced her head-on, angling his sword and bringing it down in a firm arc towards her neck. Just before the sword met its target, Kathryn's hand shot up unnaturally fast and grabbed the blade, stopping its arc. Instead of slicing through her, it carved into her palm only slightly. Her eyes where clouded white and she turned this hollow gaze to the sword in her hand, almost curiously. Then she turned her eyes back to James and threw his sword back, sending him falling backwards with it. He scrambled to his feet and returned to the formation.

"Regina? Any ideas?" James called out, still stunned by the strength the corpse had exhibited.

Instead of replying, Regina conjured a fireball in her hand. She took a deep breath.

"Let me do it. You don't have to be the one that…" Emma trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

"Yes I do." Regina said. She sent the fireball roaring in Daniel's direction. He cocked his head to the side a moment before it hit him and sent him flying onto his back. For a few seconds, the smoking form didn't move. Regina crumpled a little.

Daniel sat up straight, pulling himself to his feet and advancing once more.

"Shit." Emma hissed. "These things are worse than I remember."

Regina steadied herself, her brain whirring as she tried to think of a solution to impenetrable zombies.

"We're just going to have to keep trying. They aren't invincible." Regina said, raising another swirl of fire in her palm.

James stabbed at Kathryn with his sword, driving his sword straight into her stomach this time, undeterred. The corpse kept walking as if it hadn't been marred at all, impaling herself further on his sword until she was at the hilt. He stumbled a little as she pushed further. He put a foot against her body and tried to force her back off of the sword. "A little help here?" He grunted in strain.

An arrow whizzed just past him and he watched it sail into the middle of Kathryn's forehead, forcing her to stumble back, the blade making a sick sound as it slid out of her innards, bringing a slop of congealed blood with it.

Snow steadied her bow in Archie's direction again and made the same mark – her arrow landing in his forehead. He stumbled backwards, landing with a hard thump. He struggled wildly to get to his feet, rolling and sticking the end of the arrow into the ground, momentarily disabled and not quite intelligent enough to understand why. James was meanwhile distracted with Kathryn who was charging with a renewed purpose.

Snow joined his side as another form appeared behind Kathryn – this one glamoured to appear as Leroy.

Regina peppered Daniel's body with fireball after fireball, but he seemed to be resisting them more each time. It was this distraction that made her ignore the fact that Emma had been still for half a minute, her eyes fixed in one place, her sword arm limp at her side. When Regina turned and registered these facts and the horror that had twisted Emma's features, she finally paused long enough to see what she was looking at.

At the edge of the fog was another walking corpse. This one was different. It shambled the same as the others, but it looked more decayed, more obviously undead. It wore a suit that had obviously been dragged through the dirt. Six feet of it at least.

His eyes were just as hollow and empty as the rest, but his face was hollow too: the skin stretched gauntly over his bones.

Still, it was obvious who was ambling in Emma's direction. Painfully so to Emma herself.

Emma could barely breathe but managed to croak one word.

"Graham?"

Regina watched for a long moment; her heart seemed to stop beating. She felt like she was sinking. She felt like Emma was drifting far away.

And then Regina fell, tackled to the ground under the weight of the thing that looked like Daniel.

* * *

P.S. On the items Gold gives to Ruby and Belle: the gauntlet is very loosely based on Járngreipr (Thor's gauntlets) and the dagger is very loosely based on Carnwennan (King Arthur's dagger).


	11. Chapter 11

**Be the Change – Chapter 11**

"Emma! It's a glamour!" Regina cried.

Emma couldn't move. She was transfixed and Regina's voice did nothing to distract her. She stood stock still as Graham's decaying body took a few more steps towards her, his gait thankfully slower than Emma's ability to respond.

"But he's– he's wearing the suit…" Emma managed between ragged breaths. She could still remember seeing him in the plain, grey jacket and blue shirt. In his coffin. She had dragged a finger along the collar at the visitation and wondered who had picked it out for him, the clothes he would be wearing when he was put in the ground. She had wondered at the time if it had been Regina's choosing.

Regina grunted as she tried to push Daniel's heavy hands away from her. She was only lucky he was slow – Cora must have used some very old bodies to reanimate for her little stunt. Still, he was gaining; his hands were getting dangerously close to her throat. She was horrified by the possibility of reliving that experience again, of being choked violently by her former love.

"She wouldn't – be able to bring him back," Regina grunted, almost afraid to share the next part for fear of what the blonde would think of her, or what conclusions she would come to. But if it was a revelation that could stir Emma to action to save herself, then Regina could not hesitate any longer. "He didn't have his heart when he died – she wouldn't be able to control him! It's NOT HIM!" Regina managed to shout with a final push of effort. But that push meant that the strength she'd been holding Daniel's hands back with was all but sapped. His grip slipped forward and his fingers clamped down roughly around her throat, cutting off her air.

Excalibur, still heavy in her right hand, glowed suddenly, heating Emma's palm and breaking her trance. She looked down to it and then back up to Graham. She blinked at the man she'd known as Sheriff.  _Not him. Only a glamour._  Her mouth closed, no longer gaping in horror. Her head snapped to her left where Regina was choking against Daniel's fingers, her face red with strain, her body railing against the one on top of her. As Regina's limbs weakened in their assault, Emma panicked. She raised her sword, knowing she wasn't close enough to attack properly and couldn't cross the distance in time. She focused on Regina's attacker from afar. Then she struck her sword through the air in front of her.

Her magic responded easily, running down the length of her blade as it shifted across the cemetery and came clear across Daniel's body, hacking one arm clean off. Emma winced a little at the barbarity of it in light of who the man looked like, but as Regina scrambled to her feet and away from the fallen corpse, Emma found that she didn't much care for subtlety at the moment. She ran towards the zombie, who was distracted by his futile attempts to get upright with only one arm. When she was a few steps from him, she swallowed hard. She looked up to where Regina was standing, soothing her sore neck, still catching her breath. They locked eyes and Emma asked a silent question. Regina didn't spare a glance at the corpse; she only nodded. Emma looked down at her prey and raised her sword. She brought it down hard, bringing it hard across his neck. The head fell with a thump and rolled a few metres before stopping completely, the corpse stilled finally.

"Hit the spine!" Emma shouted to her parents. Regina came to her side again and they faced Graham head-on.

Snow, meanwhile, had crept back towards Archie, who had finally figured out how to stand again and she pulled a long dagger from her belt. She repeated a small mantra –  _Not Archie, not Archie, not Archie_  – and then dodged around him, out of his reach and to the side, before striking him from behind, her dagger plunging deep into the back of his neck. His limbs stilled immediately and he fell to his knees and then forward onto his stomach in the dirt.

James was quick to follow instructions as well: pulling Kathryn forward and past him, he forced her to stumble, so that he could attack from behind, drawing his sword down and slicing across the back of her neck, large chunks of her yellow hair drifting to the ground around her as she fell too. He turned his attention on the approaching, shambling Leroy-monster and Snow appeared at his side to help finish the deed.

Regina and Emma faced Graham side-by-side, but before Emma could move forward to strike, Regina stilled her arms with a touch. Emma threw her a confounded look.

"My turn, dear." Regina said sombrely, not lifting her hand until Emma had dropped her sword completely and stepped back. Regina turned her focus on Graham's encroaching form and lifted her hand. Thick vines sprung upwards from the earth around him. His dry, slow eyes tried to follow the movement but were too slow to react to the long plant life wrapping eagerly around his limbs and torso, pinning his arms to his side, his legs together, rendering him completely immobilised. He wriggled a little against the restraints.

Regina's mouth was bent in a grimace as she stepped slowly towards the captured creature. The one that looked so much like the man she'd kept as her pet – unwilling and then unaware – for so long. When she was close enough to reach out to him, he struggled more violently against the vines. They only tightened further.

She brought a hand upwards and then dragged it down through the air; the vines kept their grip on the man but lowered him slightly into the earth until his eyes were level with hers, his feet following the source of the vines a foot into the ground to accommodate.

She looked into his bloodshot eyes sadly. In truth, she'd become quite attached to him over the years. It had caused her disdain at first, to realize she'd begun to care at all about a man that had started out in her service as a mere plaything. But having him at her easy beck-and-call had been a kind of odd comfort in the lonely era of Storybrooke. And looking into the shadow of his face only reminded her of his end at her angered hand. By now, Emma would understand fully that Regina was at fault. This fact, this hard truth, would bring about the end of what they'd begun. She felt sure of it. And terrified by it.

Regina could feel Emma's eyes hard on her back. She reached up a strangely unsteady hand to the corpse's cheek, petting it lightly. Bits of crusted skin fell away at her touch.

"I know it isn't really you," Regina said softly, unheard by any but herself and the reanimated corpse's dead ears. "But I am sorry. For everything. I'm  _sorry._ "

The words were useless. But she felt like saying them anyway. More to his memory than to Cora's crumbling display. It wouldn't change a thing, yet the need was filled. All that was left was her duty.

With one last look into the eyes that almost certainly could not see her properly, Regina pulled back her hand from the thing's face and turned her palm in the air 180 degrees. As her hand turned, so did the vines, spinning the corpse's body in the same manner, until she could see the back of his head. She put her palm there, at the base of his neck, and closed her eyes.

A thick pulse of light burst in an orb around her hand. Then the light went out. Regina withdrew her hand, opened her eyes. She stepped back and the vines withdrew from the body. Its muscles fell limp as the others had before; the weight of him hit the earth.

At the sight of the form sprawled on the ground, Regina closed her eyes again. Some small voice inside her wished that another of her mother's zombies would spring out, throttle her to the ground and finish her completely. It was what she deserved. It would be at least a small retribution for the horrors she'd wrought. Some diminishing return on the life she'd stolen from so many.

Then she felt strong arms pull her in close and her eyes snapped open just in time to glimpse Emma's chin before her face was brought into the crook of the woman's neck. Emma's hands soothed over her arms, up her spine. She said nothing, but Regina could feel the currents of Emma's magic instilling calm and peace. Regina sighed. She looked over Emma's shoulder to see Snow and David similarly embracing, checking one another for injury and wearing matching grins of victory. Regina had never thought she'd be on the same side as these victors, sharing in their success, but in the arms that held her, she didn't feel any sting of regret or unease. Only a happy glow.

* * *

"It  _reeks_  in here." Ruby squirmed as she stepped lightly down the stairs into the belly of the Jolly Roger. Her nose had led them easily to the harbour, though finding an empty dock had been discouraging. Belle, trusting Ruby's keen senses, had insisted on searching further, and nearly tripped headlong into the water when she stumbled across the boarding ramp.

"Will you be able to tell if anyone's coming?" Belle asked, making her way into the various cabins below deck, searching them one-by-one.

Ruby stopped and sniffed even as she grimaced at the action. "Yeah, I can still smell things… underneath. It's just harder."

"Where is Cora's scent strongest?" Belle asked, pausing in her efforts.

Ruby closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. After a few moments her eyes reopened and she took off towards the furthermost cabin. "This way," she beckoned to Belle to follow.

They ended up at the only cabin with a solid door. Through it lay what could only be the captain's quarters, though by the scent that draped the place, Ruby very much doubted Hook had been allowed in very often. It had become Cora's centre of operations, she was sure.

They began to frantically search every drawer and nook and shelf of the room, desperate for some clue.

"So what are we looking for exactly?" Ruby asked, shuffling through a stack of maps.

Belle shook her head. "I don't really know. A box that would carry the heart in it, I suppose. But she wouldn't exactly leave that lying about," She paused and lifted what she'd found in the bottom of a drawer: a book that looked well-aged and worn, as though read thoroughly countless times. She lifted it in her gauntleted hand.

Ruby looked up when she heard Belle stop rifling through drawers. She chuckled. "Leave it to you to find a book." Her smile fell when she noticed Belle was inspecting it sombrely. "What's in it?"

"It looks like a story or something. But it feels… wrong somehow."

"Well maybe we should just leave it then. Cora's probably got some pretty bad stuff in here."

"I think-I think it's  _about_  her."

Ruby crossed the room to Belle's side and looked to where she'd set the book on the desk. It was difficult to read, the text obscured by ash and ink marks, but the illustrations were still bright. There was a picture of a caterpillar in a cocoon of smoke, and a woman waiting outside of it, her hands waved in front of her, as though she were ready to strike.

"I'd bet that's Cora."

"Does it look like her?" Belle asked.

"Don't know. Never saw her myself. But Emma mentioned her stint in Wonderland. Looks like she's about to fry herself a butterfly."

Belle flipped a page backwards. "Rumple said she removed her heart a long time ago. Maybe there's something in here." She flipped until she found a picture showing a younger version of the same woman, this time placing a bright, red heart in a metal case. The woman also appeared to be pregnant.

"Well the picture's not much help," Ruby said. "Can you see what's written?"

Belle brought the book up closer to her eyes, scouring the text as best she could. "It's in a very  _old_  language." She tilted her head. "Several languages, actually."

"Languages you're familiar with, I hope." Ruby replied.

Belle turned slightly to beam at her. "Thankfully, yes." She turned her attention back to the muddled script and began to read aloud.

"Her deal made, the queen-to-be laid down her cursed heart,  
And hid it in a place beyond the frame where vanity starts."

"The frame where vanity starts? Who  _wrote_  this thing?" Ruby scoffed.

"Someone under duress, I imagine," Belle said with a slight smile. The smile faded as she puzzled out the words. "The frame where vanity starts." She repeated. She put the book down to the desk and began to look around the room again, dragging her palms over the walls, pulling and pushing at fixtures and knobs and knots in the wood.

"And what exactly are you doing now?" Ruby asked, totally perplexed.

"I'm looking for a," she pulled at a candelabra on the wall. "A way through. She wouldn't have kept the heart here, out in the open where Hook could stumble across it."

"Okay, so you're feeling up the walls because…"

"Because there might be another room or something. She would need a place to hide it."

"Do you know what the words in the book mean, then?" Ruby went to the opposite wall, mimicking Belle's movements.

"I have an idea." She stopped moving and turned back around to Ruby. "Can you maybe, sniff it out? I imagine Cora's scent would be strong wherever her heart is."

Ruby closed her eyes again. She winced a little at the awful stink overlaying everything, and then inhaled deeply through her nose. Without opening her eyes she stepped across the room in a few different directions. She stopped sniffing for a moment, her eyebrows contorted, and she turned her head to the side, her ear towards the far wall. She stepped up to the same wall and placed her ear against it.

"I can hear it. Beating." She said softly.

Belle immediately joined her at the wall, repeating her prior actions, placing her hands on all spots over the wood. When her fingertips met a particular spot low on the wall, she pulled it back with a cry of shock.

"What, what is it?" Ruby asked, taking in her friend's distress.

"The wall it… burned me." Belle looked at the sore, red fingers in dismay.

"Try the gauntlet."

Belle knelt back down to the spot she'd just touched. This time she brought the steel tips of the gauntlet to the wall. She could feel the heat still, but instead of the metal holding the heat and burning her anew, it seemed to still the current and keep it back. She pressed harder with her entire hand, bringing the full weight of it against the wall. Ruby knelt beside her and put a little of her weight behind the hand.

A few moments more of pushing and the section of the wall sank inwards. When it did, the entire wall began to shift, pulling aside as if by some mechanism.

They both stood and observed the small hallway behind the hidden door. It appeared mostly as the rest of the ship did – crumbling wood, filthy and damp from the sea – except at the end of it was an unsuitably ornate half-circle end table. And above it, fit against the wall, a large, pewter, portrait mirror, showing them their own unsettled expressions.

Ruby watched as Belle's face curled in a smile.

"What?"

"Well that was what I  _thought_  it might mean. A mirror." Belle said.

"The frame where vanity starts." Ruby repeated. "All right, then. Now what?"

"The book said 'the place beyond,'" Belle replied, leading them both to stand in front of the mirror.

"The place beyond the mirror." Ruby added.

Belle looked down at the gauntlet around her hand and then back up the mirror. She slowly reached out the index finger towards the glass.

Ruby grabbed her arm. "Careful. I don't want to have to tell your dark-magic boyfriend that I let you get blasted by a homicidal mirror." Ruby masked her voice in lightness but her worried expression gave her away.

Belle smiled at her friend for comfort but said nothing. She turned her attention back to the mirror and let the gauntlet touch the mirror's surface. Only it didn't stop. The tips of the fingers went  _through_  it, as if dipping into the surface of a pool that did not stir or ripple. Ruby was completely silent.

Belle, knowing her friend's concern, spoke up. "It feels a little like the door, very warm. It would probably scald me without protection." She felt around inside, unable to see what actually lay beyond. She could feel the metal of the gauntlet heating further. Soon her skin would be burning regardless of the glove's power.

She gritted her teeth and felt around for anything, resisting the urge to plunge her other hand in to help search. Just when she thought the burning sensation would be too much, she felt it: a corner, and then an edge. The feeling of metal on metal. She reached in further, ignoring her rebelling nerve endings and grasped the box. She met resistance trying to pull it towards her, as if something were on the other side, pulling it back.

"Help me pull!"

Ruby complied immediately, grasping Belle and pulling along with her with all her strength. By now, Belle was sure that her hand and wrist were littered with ugly burns. She could feel the skin blistering. Her forehead gleamed with sweat and strain as she made a final effort to pull, putting one foot against the table under the mirror to give her leverage.

"On three," Belle said and Ruby nodded to confirm. "One, two, three!" They pulled and Belle pushed her foot against the table with a firm kick. The two of them flew backward with the sudden force, skidding against the floor in a heap, breathing hard.

When Belle conjured the effort to sit up, she noticed the weight in her gauntleted hand: the iron box, just as it appeared in Cora's book. She smiled and laughed in delight.

"You did it!" Ruby cried brightly, pulling Belle into an unexpected wolf-hug.

Belle pulled back from the embrace. " _We_  did it." They beamed at each other and Belle quirked one eyebrow. "Should we check to see what all the fuss is about? Wouldn't want to have come all this way just to find it empty." Ruby nodded in agreement and turned her eyes to the iron case.

Belle cautiously lifted the lid, exposing its contents. Both of them paled at the sight. The heart inside was beating slowly, heavily. Its colour was not red, but black and sickly. It oozed what looked like thick, bubbling tar from its centre. A thin tendril of smoke curled up from one side. Belle snapped the box shut with a wince, bringing the gauntlet to her stomach to guard her hurt hand.

"Did you get the feeling that it could –" Ruby began in a quivering voice.

"See us? Yes, I felt that."

"Do you think – do you think Cora knows?"

Belle worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "She might. But then again, she's been separated from it for a long time. Perhaps she can't sense it so well. If we're lucky."

"Good thing I'm always lucky, then. Come on, let's go." Ruby stood and reached out a hand to Belle. She reached for the gauntlet without thinking and made to yank the woman to her feet, but Belle recoiled immediately, drawing back the iron grip to hold it against her again. "Belle?!" Ruby's face twisted in concern. "What's wrong?"

Belle took the iron box in her bare hand and lifted it to Ruby. "Hold this for a moment, would you?" When Ruby complied, Belle brought her hand to the gauntlet and tugged lightly at it to pull it off, but before it moved an inch, she cried out, her eyes falling shut at the enormous pain running through her skin.

She opened her eyes to see Ruby's wide-eyed, worried face.

"I think the glove is stuck." She said. She didn't elaborate that her hand had probably burned to the inside of it, making it unmovable without tearing off a layer of skin.

"We have to get you to Gold. He can get it off, right?" Ruby said frantically as she helped Belle stand more carefully this time.

Belle shook her head. "You have to get that heart to Emma and Regina. I'll go to Rumple alone."

Ruby searched Belle's eyes for leniency – she didn't want to leave her friend when she was visibly in so much pain. But there was only a hard determination in those eyes. She nodded.

"Okay. Let's get the hell off of this boat. I'm sick of the stink."

* * *

The owner of Storybrooke's finest – and only – pawn shop had never looked so uncomfortable. He had never been a patient man; he hated waiting. And the thing, or rather, the person, he was waiting for was the one he truly hated the most, which made the wait all the more maddening.

He was sitting in his armchair, poised in front of the centremost counter, facing the front door. He would be the first and last thing Hook saw. Aimed at the entrance, ready to fire, was a stasis spell to halt the pirate in his tracks. It would halt the man so suddenly and so completely that he would be completely at the Dark One's will. And then Rumple could make his final remarks to his enemy, and end his sorry life. Rumple grinned at the thought as he sat a little more upright in his chair, hoping to appear more daunting and confident. His knee seized a little and he soothed it with his fingers, hating that he was showing any weakness.

It was only when he heard the bell of the door that his head snapped back up to see Hook – impossibly unchanged by the many decades since their last meeting – walking cockily through the door, unharmed.

"Rumplestiltskin." He said casually.

Rumple swallowed hard, baffled by his spell's failure. It should have fired by now – the pirate was past its mark.

"Hook." He returned in a steady voice, betraying nothing at first. Then his eyes shifted momentarily to the corner were the spell was to have emitted from.

Hook looked around as if searching for something to happen before returning his gaze to his adversary. "Did you have something planned for me? A little trap, perhaps?" Hook grinned, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Rumple ground his teeth together.

"After all this time did you really think it would be so easy, croc? Or did you let yourself believe Cora would actually give you the upper hand?" Hook pulled a small object from his vest: it was pocket-watch sized, but made of wood and etched into it were a series of symbols, painted in a dark crimson that could only be blood. He waved it towards Rumple before returning it to his clothes.

"She gave you a disrupter," Rumple said darkly, standing to his feet and steadying himself on his cane.

Hook only grinned wider. "I'm not fool enough to believe she cares for me, but she doesn't care much more for you. Today you'll have to fight like a man instead of a monster." Hook glanced down at Rumple's sore leg. "Or rather, half a man. Since that is all you ever really were."

He was barely done speaking before Rumple lashed out with his cane, aiming to strike Hook across the face but missing as the Captain stepped easily out of the way, laughing at the old man's fumbling attempt.

Rumple stumbled a few steps before regaining his balance. He flashed back around to face Hook again, in utter disbelief that the man was still as spry and evasive as ever.

"Wondering why I haven't aged?" Hook asked as he circled the shop, weaving behind one of the counters and picking up an old relic – a heavy crystal ball, green in colour – and inspecting it curiously as he continued speaking. "We can't all remain fixed like the Dark One, but I took a little journey to a place called Neverland. Kept me quite young. Well, it kept  _everyone_  quite young." He dropped the ball from his view and locked eyes with Rumple. "Did I mention that I met your son there? Saved him from the sea, won his trust. Then I sold him off to Pan for protection."

Rumple's face went red and his heart beat wildly. "You  _bastard_!" He stepped forward again, swinging his cane over the counter at Hook but this time the Captain caught the end of the stick midair. He gripped it firmly, his expression turning stony and vengeful as he wrenched it from Rumple's grasp. The older man gripped the counter to steady himself but was too slow to react as Hook rounded it and used the walking stick to sweep Rumple's legs out from under him. Rumple collapsed hard against the ground, his back and bad leg screaming in agony. He cried out in pain, writhing on the floor, eyes shut.

Hook looked down at the man, disgusted and intrigued. "Without your magic you are nothing. And you will die as nothing as you should have long ago. Before you  _ever_  caused such pain to so many."

Hook lowered himself to the ground beside Rumple and then straddled his hips to lock him in place. Rumple struggled as Hook brought the cane across his throat and pushed it hard against the man's neck. Rumple pushed back against the stick but could feel his opponent's superior strength. He choked for air and felt his face turning purple, bulging with strain and blood. He pushed back still, trying to regain some semblance of control, but failing. He could see his end, the edge of death nearing and nearing. He would die a weak man, but not a coward. There was that at least.

Suddenly the force of Hook's hands let up; the cane weakened in its assault. The Captain's eyes went wide and his face paled. He looked as though he were about to fall over onto Rumple entirely before his torso was roughly pushed aside. His body fell to the floor beside Rumple as Belle stood, chest heaving and hand bloodied, staring down at him in fear.

Rumple caught his breath and reached out to her. She pulled him to his feet and into a firm embrace.

"You saved me, my love." Rumple said into her neck, gripping her tightly.

"He almost killed you," Belle said, her tone still conveying her terror.

Rumple pulled back in her arms and locked eyes with her. "But you  _saved_  me." He said firmly. His eyes twinkled as his mouth slipped into a wise smile. "Again." He looked down to Hook's crumpled form to see the knife plunged far into his back.

"Ruby insisted I take it." Belle said, responding to what had drawn his attention.

Rumple collected his cane from the floor where it had fallen and firmed up his stance. He turned back to Belle and noticed she was holding her gauntlet hand oddly, pressed against her as if it were a wounded wing.

She followed his gaze, gave him a sad smile, and then reached the gauntlet out to him.

"I had a bit of trouble getting to the heart, but Ruby has it. She's taking it to the others now."

He took the gauntlet in his hands tenderly, noticing her wince of pain when he handled it. He waved a hand over it and slipped it from her fingers with the other, his own face contorting in horror at the weeping burns beneath.

"Oh, Belle. I am so sorry."

"It isn't your fault. If it wasn't me it would have been someone else. Besides, I'm sure you will put me under the best care I could ask for." She smiled warmly.

"Of course I will." He retrieved a jar holding some kind of salve and a roll of gauze and began to tend to her injury. "We should get to the cemetery with the rest of them. I should like to see the end of the Queen of Hearts."

"The cemetery? How do you know they're there?" She asked softly, watching him work.

"I've been feeling power surge from that point. I'd guess she ambushed them once they hid the rest in the crypt."

"Can you tell – are they all right?" Belle asked, terrified of the answer, of what she might have sent Ruby headlong into.

Rumple shook his head, finishing the wrap around her hand and pinning it. "I can't say. Which is why we should make haste."

* * *

The applause of a single, captivated audience member wrung out through the cemetery grounds as the thick fog rolled out as quickly as it had rolled in. The clapping slowed as Snow, David, Emma, and Regina all turned their attention to its source, their happiness falling away.

Cora sat on top of a large, squarish tombstone, grinning in delight, her hands finally coming together in a final clasp.

"What an impressive display! It seems you've trained them  _all_  well, Regina. How studious of you."

Regina reacted immediately, lashing an arm out in her mother's direction. Nothing stirred: no magic, no weapon,  _nothing_  came of it. Regina snapped her hand back and looked at it as if it were a traitor. Cora's grin only widened.

"All spent, my love? I suppose you have been rather busy today. Expending plenty of magic to protect so many who still despise you."

Emma felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. She lost track of whatever Cora was saying as she tried to reach for it as stealthily as possible, desperate to avoid drawing attention. She slipped it out and pressed the screen to life without looking. When she thought she had a second, she glanced down to it to see a message from Ruby: "I'm here. I have it." Cora hadn't stopped in her monologue, but she had noticed Emma's distraction.

"Do you really think they'll ever forgive the Evil Queen? None of them will. Not even your blonde whore. Look! She can't even pay attention while I threaten your life." Cora waved a hand and Emma's phone flew from her grasp, arriving promptly in Cora's open palm. She looked at the device and grimaced before watching the phone combust in a handful of fire. She dropped the melted pieces to the ground.

"That was very rude, dear. So little respect." Her voice curled into a seductive growl. "Why don't you let me train you better. You could call me master; I could call you slave."

Regina stepped forward, about to launch herself into a full, enraged run at Cora before Emma pulled her back, restraining her tightly.

"She's just goading you," Emma murmured to Regina without taking her eyes from Cora's. She glanced briefly over to Snow and David who began to take slow steps to come closer to her.

"What do you want, Cora?" Emma called out. "Seems an awfully long trip to take just to terrorize your daughter."

Cora nodded and her face turned serious in consideration. She tapped a finger against her chin. "Quite right. In fact, there were so  _many_  reasons I wanted to come here. To see Regina, sure. To see the sights of this world, perhaps – so far, I am severely unimpressed, I might add. But I think what really inspired me to come all this way was something  _you_  said, Princess."

When Cora paused, clearly waiting for someone to prompt her, Emma finally gave in. "And what was that?" Out of the corner of her eye, Emma noticed a familiar shape – Ruby – huddled against a tall tombstone, holding a small, metal box. No doubt holding the heart of Regina's mother.

Cora's sickly smile spilled into her features again. "You said I had a grandson. I wanted so  _desperately_  to meet him." She turned on the tombstone to look behind her somewhere. "Henry, dear. Come on out. The whole family is here!"

Regina and Emma looked to where Cora's gaze had fallen and waited, barely able to breathe.

Henry's face was pale, his clothes were strange – no doubt he'd been redressed by Cora – and his body was stiff. He stepped beside the stone where Cora sat astride and he stopped dead, his eyes fixed on some space ahead of him, blankly staring into it as if he could not see.

"Is it a glamour?" Emma asked in a whisper.

"No." Regina responded darkly.

Cora laid a hand on his head and petted his hair. "There's a good boy. So obedient. So good for your grandmother, aren't you dear?"

"What the hell did you do to him?" Emma yelled. Her entire body tensed in anger.

Cora focused on Henry and made no attempt to answer. Regina did it for her.

"She has his heart." Regina said in a shaky voice.

"No," Emma said weakly, almost a whisper.

"And such a bold little heart it is." Cora cooed. "I think he thought he could overpower me somehow. Silly little pet."

"What do you want, mother?" Regina cried out. "If it's a heart you want, take mine! Take mine instead of his."

Cora ceased her stroking of his hair and turned slowly towards her daughter. "What would I want with  _your_  heart? That corrupt, ashy, little lump of an organ. My dear, I want what I've  _always_  wanted. Power. And the most powerful thing in any world…" she turned her head to look at Snow and David. "Is true love, isn't it?" She turned her head once more to look directly at Emma. "Which makes the Saviour's heart the most powerful thing there is."

Regina's face drained of blood. "No." She said in a desperate exhale.

"I felt it that day on the beach. I held it in my hand – so close, so  _close_  to having it for myself. With its power combined with mine, I would be unstoppable." Cora slipped gracefully from the tombstone, brushed herself off casually, and stood firm. "As it happens, I cannot tear out the Saviour's heart. But  _you_  can." Her eyes glimmered with a psychotic light.

"What?!" Regina's legs threatened to give out.

"Her heart is open to you, dear. She gives it willingly. You reach in and take it out right now and I'll return Henry to you – heart and all."

Regina faltered, taking a step back. "I – I can't."

"Sure you can." Cora responded immediately. Her smile fell a little and she took on a very serious expression. "Or are you trying to tell me she means more to you than your son?"

Regina's mouth fell open, her eyes wide and unblinking as she looked at her son's stony visage.

"Do it." Emma said firmly.

Regina whipped around to look her in the eye and saw the gritty, stupid bravery she'd come to recognize in every Charming. "Emma, I  _can't_!" She sobbed.

Emma gave a small smile, took Regina's hand and brought it to her chest. Regina felt the heartbeat beneath, pumping strong and steady. "You have to."

Regina stepped in closer to Emma, their faces a breath apart. Emma focused on Regina's eyes and tried to think her way into her mind. They'd never touched on telepathy in any lesson – hell, Emma wasn't even sure that was one of the talents their magic allowed – but she had to try and send the message anyway. She needed to tell Regina her mother's heart was close enough to reach.

Emma brought their foreheads together and thought hard. She sent the message as best she could, but with no confirmation from Regina, visual, verbal, or telepathic, she could only hope it was received.

"I love you," Emma's voice was too low for anyone but Regina to hear and for a moment, Regina thought she  _hadn't_  heard, couldn't have heard those words from those lips, from  _any_  lips. But one startled look into Emma's eyes confirmed that it was true.

"I love you too." Regina replied, her cheeks wet with tears. "And I am sorry."

Regina's hand plunged into Emma's chest as Emma took in a harsh lungful of air at the sensation.

"NO!" Snow cried out, both she and David lunging for Regina and Emma. They were stopped abruptly as if hitting an invisible wall. They looked beyond to see Cora's hand raised, stopping them from any intervention.

Tears spilled out of Regina's eyes. She held her hand inside the woman's chest for a full minute before she re-emerged with a bright-red heart, pulsing hard in her palm. Emma looked down at the organ, her own eyes watering from the pain. With one last look in Regina's eyes, she fell to her knees in the dirt. Regina turned away, taking firm steps towards her mother, completing what felt like a death march to close the distance between them.

Cora's face was gleaming with maddening intensity, her smile split wider than ever and her eyes trained solely on the Saviour's heart.

Regina stopped a few paces from the woman.

"Return Henry's heart." Regina said, her voice dark and emotionless. She sounded exhausted.

Cora conjured his small heart into her hand. She crooked a finger to beckon Henry closer and she roughly pushed it into his chest. He cried out in pain and Regina winced, unable to tear her gaze away from his twisted features. Cora pushed him back lightly, his heart in its place, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"There. I have fulfilled my promise. Now it is your turn." Cora held out an impatient hand.

Regina stepped very close to her mother, less than an arm's length between them. "Here, mother. All the power you've ever wanted." Tears streaked Regina's face but her expression stayed stony.

Cora grinned as she took the heart from Regina's hand, but the minute she possessed it, her features sank. Her eyes widened and she looked at Regina in horrified realization.

"What are you–"

Cora didn't have a chance to finish her thought. Regina tackled her mother to the ground and put all of her weight into pushing Cora's hand, heart still clutched in her fingers, into Cora's chest. Cora spasmed on the ground, railed against her daughter's weight, but Regina stayed firm. Suddenly Cora stopped struggling and turned her eyes up to meet Regina's.

Cora's hand slipped from her chest where the heart was fixed inside. Regina's hands lifted and she adjusted her weight, no longer needing to restrain the woman who was now looking at her with a kind of affection Regina had never seen there. The Queen of Hearts was paling quickly and her body seemed to wilt a little more with each passing second.

Cora reached a hand up and Regina flinched. But the hand strike or retaliate, it only cupped Regina's cheek gently, a thumb soothing over her skin.

"I wish," Cora tried to speak but she broke out into a wheezing cough.

"Mother, don't. It's all right," Regina soothed, her tears falling faster now.

Cora shook her head. The veins underneath her skin were darker now, almost black and her eyes were clouded. "I wish I could have been better for you." She put her remaining energy into a weak smile. "You would have been enough."

Regina held Cora's hand against her cheek. She watched as her mother's body wracked with a fresh wave of pain, shaking hard against the ground. Her eyes were screwed shut, her body shaking, until little by little the movements subsided and Cora's body fell limp. Regina let out a choked sob and fell over her mother's body, her hands clutching at the dress madly.

She cried until someone came to pull her away. She couldn't tell who because she refused to open her eyes. She couldn't conjure any more energy. She was drained of magic, drained of emotion. At some point she felt herself lying still but also moving and thought she must be in a car. When she couldn't fight the weariness anymore, she slept.


End file.
